HE  PRESBYTE 
PULPIT 


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O  U  R  N  E  W  E  D  E  N  vS 


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BY 


J,R 


ILLE 


i*    OCT  27  I9'^3   * 


BX  9178  .M5  08 

Miller.  J.  R.  1840-1912 

Our  new  Edens 


OUR   NEW    EDENS 


G;be  presbiptciian  pulpit 


-*•- 


OUR  NEW  EDENS 


BY 


J.   R. ^MILLER 

Author  of  "Week-Day  Religion,"  "Wedded  Life," 
"  Silent  Times,"  etc.,  etc. 


Go  ye,  and  stand  and  speak  in  the  temple  to  the  people 
all  the  words  of  this  Life." 


PHILADELPHIA 

PRESBYTERIAN    BOARD    OF   PUBLICATION 
AND  SABBATH-SCHOOL  WORK 

1903 


Copyright,  1903,  by 
J.    R.   MILLER. 

Published  October,  rgoj. 


CONTENTS 


I.  Our  New  Edens 

II.  The  Way  to  God 

III,  Prayer  in  the  Christian  Life 

IV.  A  Parable  of  Growth 

V.  The  Beauty  of  Quietness 

VI.  The  Name  on  the  Forehead  . 

VII.  The  True  Glory  of  Life 

VIII.  Grieving  the  Holy  Spirit 


3 
23 
43 
63 

83 
103 
123 
141 


The  Scripture  quotations  in  this  volume  are  from  the  American 
Revision. 


OUR   NEW   EDENS 


*'  And  Jehovah  God  took  the  man,  and  put  him  into  the  garden 
of  Eden  to  dress  it  and  to  keep  it." — Genesis  ii.  15. 

"  We  cannot  go  so  far 

That  home  is  out  of  sight — 
The  morn,  the  evening  star, 

Will  say,  '  Good  day  !  Good  night ! '" 

— Henry  Burton. 


OUR   NEW   EDENS 


OUR  NEW  EDENS 

The  first  home  there  ever  was  in  this  world 
was  in  the  garden  of  Eden.  God  the  Father 
made  it  ready  for  His  first  children — made  it 
ready  for  them  before  they  were  created.  I  can 
imagine  with  what  loving  thought  He  prepared 
this  home  for  them.  He  made  it  very  beautiful. 
He  gathered  into  it  all  the  loveliest  things  of  all 
the  earth — trees,  plants,  flowers,  and  fruits. 
Streams  of  water  rippled  through  it  and  there 
were  birds  and  animals  of  all  kinds  in  it. 

The  first  home  was  a  garden.  Every  home 
should  be  a  garden  spot.  An  important  part  of 
our  work  in  this  world  is  garden-making.  We 
ought  to  make  our  homes  as  beautiful  as  we  can. 
They  may  be  very  plain,  perhaps  only  two  or 
three  rooms,  but  we  should  put  into  them  all  the 
lovely  things  we  can  gather.  The  first  home  in 
this  world  was  in  Eden.     We  should  try  to  make 

3 


4  OUR  NEW  EDENS 

our  homes  Edens.  One  writes  of  a  quiet  man 
who  had  given  his  Hfe  to  a  service  of  love  : — 

In  the  desert,  where  he  lies  entombed, 
He  made  a  little  garden,  and  left  there 
Some  flowers  that  but  for  him  had  never  bloomed. 

Every  home  should  be  such  a  garden.  Whether 
it  is  a  luxurious  place  or  bare  of  earthly  comforts, 
it  should  be  sweet  with  the  fragrance  of  love  and 
beautiful  with  the  beauty  of  the  Lord. 

The  home  has  always  been  dear  to  the  Divine 
heart.  When  Jesus  sent  His  disciples  out  to 
preach,  one  of  His  instructions  was,  "  Into  what- 
soever house  ye  enter,  first  say,  Peace  be  to  this 
house."  On  Christ's  lips  this  is  more  than  a 
salutation :  it  is  a  divine  benediction  as  well. 
Peace  means  love,  heaven's  love,  the  absence  of 
all  strife  and  bitterness.  It  means  also  the 
absence  of  care  and  worry.  The  New  Testament 
tells  us  of  the  home  at  Bethany  where  Jesus 
Himself  was  welcomed  by  the  sisters.  He  left 
peace  there.  He  taught  the  lesson  of  quietness 
and  confidence.  One  of  the  sisters  was  disposed 
to  worry— it  is  not  easy  to  be  a  housekeeper,  to 
have  to  provide  for  the  wants  of  a  family,  and  to 
manage  all  the  domestic  affairs  of  a  home  and  not 
sometimes  fret  a  little.     Martha  was  anxious  and 


OUR  NEW  EDENS  5 

troubled  about  many  things.  But  Jesus  gently 
taught  her  the  lesson  of  peace,  and  we  may  be 
quite  sure  she  never  forgot  it.  We  never  find  her 
worrying  any  more. 

Jesus  comes  to  the  door  of  each  home  of  ours 
and  says,  "  Peace  be  to  this  house."  We  should 
let  the  messenger  of  peace  come  in.  Nothing 
good  ever  comes  of  fretting.  We  cannot  get 
clear  of  cares.  There  are  troubles  enough  in  any 
of  our  lives  to  spoil  our  happiness  if  we  yield  to 
them.  But  no  matter  what  comes,  what  burdens 
press,  what  things  go  wrong,  what  flowers  fade, 
listen  to  the  Master's  word  at  the  door,  "  Peace 
be  to  this  house." 

"  He  who  waters  meadow  lilies 

With  the  dew  from  out  the  sky; 
He  who  feeds  the  flitting  sparrows 

When  in  need  of  food  they  cry, 
Never  fails  to  help  His  children  \ 

In  all  things,  both  great  and  small  ; 
For  His  ear  is  ever  open 

To  our  faintest  far-off  call." 

How  can  we  make  new  Edens  of  our  homes  ? 
What  are  some  of  the  secrets  of  home  happiness  ? 
I  might  gather  them  all  into  one  word  and  say — 
Christ.  If  we  have  Christ  as  our  guest,  our  home 
will  be  happy — Christ  in  the  joy  and  Christ  in  the 
sorrow ;  Christ  in  the  day  of  plenty  and  Christ  in 


6  OUR  NEW  EDENS 

the  day  of  pinching  want ;  Christ  in  the  business 
and  Christ  in  the  social  Hfe ;  Christ  at  the  mar- 
riage altar  and  Christ  as  the  wedded  pair  walk 
together  toward  the  sunset  gate.  Christ  makes  a 
happy  home  when  He  is  admitted  into  all  the 
household  life. 

The  other  day  a  young  friend  who  is  to  be  a 
bride  in  a  little  while  came  to  have  a  quiet  talk 
about  her  new  life.  She  has  never  confessed 
Christ  as  her  Master  and  Friend,  and  she  said  she 
wanted  to  do  it  soon,  adding :  "  We  never  know 
what  trouble  we  may  have  and  when  we  may 
need  Christ.  I  want  to  take  Him  now  into  my 
new  life  and  into  my  home."  She  is  doing  right, 
but  her  thought  of  the  possible  need  for  Christ 
reveals  a  mistaken  conception  of  His  mission  to 
us.  Christ  is  not  needed  merely  in  the  days  of 
trouble.  Religion  is  not  meant  to  be  a  lamp  for 
the  sick  room  or  for  the  days  when  the  shutters 
are  bowed  and  there  is  crape  on  the  door.  It  is 
for  the  sunny  days  as  well.  Christ's  first  public 
act  after  His  baptism  was  His  attendance  at  a 
wedding-feast.  He  would  come  into  all  our 
experiences  of  gladness  as  well  as  into  our  times 
of  care  or  trial.  Our  joy  needs  heaven  in  it  quite 
as  much  as  our  sorrow  docs. 

It  is  more  of  Christ  we  need  in  our  homes  to 


OUR  NEW  EDENS  7 

make  their  happiness  perfect  One  of  Turner's 
pictures  was  being  exhibited  in  the  artist's  studio. 
It  was  rich  and  beautiful.  But  those  who  were 
present  that  day  saw  that  it  lacked  something. 
It  seemed  all  mist  and  cloud — hazy,  vague,  ill- 
defined,  incomprehensible.  The  friends  who 
looked  at  the  canvas  were  perplexed — they  could 
not  understand  the  picture.  The  artist  himself 
saw  the  lack,  and,  taking  his  brush,  added  a  touch 
of  red  to  his  painting.  That  took  away  all  the 
mystery,  the  vagueness,  the  mistiness,  and  made 
it  intelligible. 

Some  of  our  homes  seem  to  have  in  them 
everything  they  need  to  make  them  perfect. 
They  are  filled  with  beauty.  They  have  all  the 
equipments  and  conveniences  of  modern  taste 
and  skill.  Music  and  art  and  refinement  and  the 
best  things  that  money  can  add  are  present. 
Health  and  happiness  and  the  gladness  of  social 
life  yield  their  portion  to  the  comfort  of  these 
homes.  But  something  is  yet  wanting  to  make 
the  picture  complete.  It  is  Christ's  "  Peace  be  to 
this  house."  It  is  a  touch  of  the  red  of  Christ's 
cross — His  love  shed  abroad  in  the  home-life. 
If  Christ  were  admitted  as  a  guest.  His  coming 
would  add  immeasurably  to  the  joy  and  sweet- 
ness of  the  home-life. 


8  OUR  NEW  EDENS 

But  there  is  only  one  way  of  taking  Christ  into 
our  homes  and  getting  His  blessing  on  our  home- 
life.  In  olden  days  there  would  be  a  little  chapel 
in  great  castles  where  God  was  formally  honored 
on  Sundays,  while  He  was  shut  out  of  all  the  life 
of  other  days.  Not  thus  can  we  take  Christ  into 
our  homes.  He  will  not  come  to  be  a  secluded 
guest,  merely  to  lodge  in  lonehness  in  our  best 
room.  He  must  be  welcomed  into  all  our  life. 
He  must  be  in  each  heart.  He  must  sit  at  our 
tables  and  mingle  with  us  in  all  our  intercourse. 
Christ  can  bless  our  home  only  through  the  lives 
of  those  who  make  the  home  circle. 

The  husband  has  a  part  in  making  the  earthly 
home  a  little  garden  of  Eden.  He  must  be  a 
good  man.  He  need  not  be  rich,  nor  brilliant, 
nor  famous,  nor  clever,  but  he  must  be  good. 
He  must  always  be  a  lover — even  to  his  old  age. 
Then  he  must  be  a  man — manly,  brave,  true, 
generous,  worthy  of  honor.  He  must  be  a  man 
of  unblemished  life.  He  must  be  a  man  who 
loves  his  home  and  lives  for  it.  The  husband  has 
an  important  part  in  the  home  garden-making. 
Some  husbands  seem  not  to  know  this  ;  at  least 
they  fail  to  take  their  share  of  the  burden. 

The  wife  too  has  a  responsibility.  The  word 
"  wife "     is     suggestive.      Some     lexicographers 


OUR  NEW  EDENS  9 

would  connect  it  with  "  weave."  In  olden  days 
the  wife's  hands  wove  the  garments  her  husband 
wore.  This  is  not  the  case  now,  but  the  wife  does 
weave  the  garments  of  her  husband's  prosperity. 
Most  men  who  amount  to  anything  worth  while 
confess  that  they  owe  it  all  to  their  wives.  Jeremy 
Taylor's  tribute  to  a  true  wife  is  very  beautiful, 
but  as  true  as  beautiful,  though  it  sets  a  high 
ideal  :  "  A  good  wife  is  heaven's  best  gift  to  man, 
his  angel  and  minister  of  graces  innumerable,  his 
gem  of  many  virtues,  his  casket  of  jewels." 

The  wife  is  the  real  home-maker.  It  is  her 
sweet  life  that  gives  the  home  its  atmosphere. 
Her  hands  fashion  its  beauty.  Her  heart  makes 
its  love.  And  the  end  is  so  worthy,  so  noble,  so 
divine,  that  no  woman  called  to  be  a  wife  should 
consider  any  price  too  great  to  pay  that  she  may 
be  the  light,  the  joy,  the  blessing,  the  inspiration, 
of  her  home.  I  know  how  some  good  mothers 
sometimes  feel — that  it  is  only  a  dull,  dreary, 
routine  life  they  are  living.  They  contrast  it 
with  the  lives  of  certain  women  who  are  achiev- 
ing distinction  in  other  lines,  winning  honors, 
doing  work  which  the  world  praises,  and  some- 
times they  feel  that  their  lives  are  humdrum  and 
insignificant  in  comparison.  But  the  woman  who 
makes  a  sweet,  beautiful  home,  filling  it  with  love, 


lo  OUR  NEW  EDENS 

prayer,  and  song,  is  doing  something  better  than 
anything  else  her  hands  could  find  to  do  any- 
where beneath  the  blue  skies. 

"  '  My  day  lias  all  gone ' — 'twas  a  woman  who  spoke, 
As  she  turned  her  face  to  the  sunset  glow — 
*  And  I  have  been  busy  the  whole  day  long  ; 
Yet  for  my  work  there  is  nothing  to  show.' 

"  No  painting  nor  sculpture  her  hand  had  wrought; 
No  laurel  of  fame  her  labor  had  won. 
What  was  she  doing  in  all  the  long  day, 
With  nothing  to  show  at  set  of  sun  ?  " 

You  know  what  she  was  doing — kindly  things 
all  the  day  long,  trifles,  perhaps,  but  trifles  that 
left  blessings  everywhere.  She  had  put  benedic- 
tions into  her  husband's  heart  as  he  went  forth  in 
the  morning  to  his  work.  She  had  brought 
heaven  down  about  her  children's  lives  as  she 
prayed  with  them.  She  had  left  touches  of  beauty 
in  every  part  of  her  home  as  she  went  about  her 
task-work.  She  had  kept  sweet  amid  all  the 
home  care  and  turmoil.  She  had  found  time  to 
go  out  to  carry  to  a  sick  neighbor  or  to  a  home 
of  sorrow,  comfort  and  cheer. 

"  Humbly  and  quietly  all  the  long  day 

I  lad  her  sweet  .service  for  others  been  done  ; 
Yet  for  the  labors  of  heart  and  of  liand 
What  could  she  show  at  set  of  sun  ? 


OUR  NEW  EDENS  ii 

"  Ah,  she  forgot  that  our  Father  in  heaven 
Ever  is  watching  the  work  that  we  do, 
And  records  He  keeps  of  all  we  forget, 

Then  judges  our  work  with  judgment  that's  true; 

"  For  an  angel  writes  down  in  a  volume  of  gold 
The  beautiful  deeds  that  all  do  below. 
Though  nothing  she  had  at  set  of  the  sun, 
The  angel  above  had  something  to  show." 

Children,  when  they  come,  are  also  important 
factors  in  making  the  happiness  of  the  home. 
They  bring  care,  and  demand  toil  and  sacrifice, 
and  cost  ofttimes  pain  and  grief;  yet  the  blessing 
they  bring  to  a  true  home  repays  a  thousand 
times  the  care  and  cost. 

One  of  the  holiest  secrets  of  home  happiness  is 
a  true  mother.  God  sends  many  beautiful  things 
to  this  world,  many  noble  gifts  ;  but  no  blessing 
He  ever  gives  is  richer  than  that  which  He  be- 
stows in  a  mother  who  has  learned  love's  lesson 
well  and  understands  something  of  the  meaning 
of  her  sacred  calling.     One  writes  : — 

*'God  thought  to  give  the  sweetest  thing 

In  His  almighty  power 
To  earth  ;  and  deeply  pondering 

What  it  should  be,  one  hour 
In  fondest  joy  and  love  of  heart 

Outweighing  every  other, 
He  moved  the  gates  of  heaven  apart 

And  £»-ave  to  earth  a  mother." 


12  OUR  NEW  EDENS 

A  father  also  has  his  share  in  the  makinrr  of 
the  Eden  home.  It  is  not  fair  to  put  all  the 
responsibility  for  the  home-life  on  the  mother. 
Fathers  cannot  evade  their  duty  in  this  regard 
without  lack  of  faithfulness  and  also  of  chivalrous 
conduct.  God  will  call  them  to  answer  for  their 
part  of  the  responsibility.  Then  it  is  not  manly 
for  a  man  to  try  to  roll  the  whole  burden  on  her 
whom  he  sometimes  twits  with  being  the  "  weaker 
vessel."  If  the  wife  is  weak  and  he  is  so  strong, 
then — noblesse  oblige.  Let  him  bear  the  stronp- 
man's  part  of  the  load.  No  doubt  there  are  parts 
of  the  home  duty  which  a  mother  can  do  far 
better  than  a  father.  Men's  hands  are  awkward 
and  clumsy,  and  a  woman's  hands  are  gentle  and 
deft  in  love's  arts.  But  let  no  man  cherish  the 
notion  that  he  has  nothing  to  do  in  this  home 
garden-making.  His  strong  life  should  be  the 
secure  shelter  beneath  which  his  wife  and  chil- 
dren may  safely  abide.  His  character  and  dispo- 
sition should  be  a  continual  revealing  of  the  love 
and  holiness  of  God. 

Brothers  and  sisters  also  have  their  part  in 
making  the  home  happiness.  Sometimes  they 
forget  this.  Some  young  people  do  not  add  to 
the  joy  and  the  sweetness  of  the  home  in  which 
they   have  been  brought  up  as   they   might   do. 


OUR  NEW  EDENS  13 

They  do  not  give  to  their  parents  the  comfort  and 
cheer  they  might  give.  They  do  not  remember 
and  practice  the  fifth  commandment.  Then  they 
do  not  hve  together  sweetly  as  they  might  do, 
adding  to  the  music  of  the  home.  Children  carry 
in  their  hands  the  happiness  of  their  parents.  We 
talk  of  the  responsibility  of  parenthood — did  you 
ever  think  of  the  responsibility  of  children  for 
their  parents  ?  In  this  home  garden-making  every 
child  has  a  share. 

The  artist  was  painting  a  picture  of  a  dead 
mother,  and  was  using  a  photograph  as  his  copy. 
But  to  make  the  face  look  fresher  and  younger, 
he  was  leaving  out  the  lines  and  marks  of  age 
and  care  on  the  face.  "  No,  no,"  said  the  son. 
"  Don't  take  out  the  lines.  Leave  them,  every 
one.  It  wouldn't  be  my  mother  if  all  the  lines 
were  gone."  Then  he  told  the  story  of  her  devo- 
tion to  her  children  through  their  infancy  and 
through   times    of    sickness.       The    lines    which 

o 

seemed  to  disfigure  the  face  were  love's  records, 
telling  of  sacrifice  and  suffering.  We  should 
never  forget  what  we  owe  to  our  mothers. 

Then  may  I  say  a  special  word  about  children's 
thoudit  for  their  fathers  ?  Mothers  are  idealized 
much  oftener  and  with  more  just  recognition  and 
praise   than   fathers.      More   children  pay   honor 


14  OUR  NEW  EDENS 

and  love  and  attention  to  mothers  than  to  fathers. 
Of  course,  mothers  do  more  for  children  than 
fathers  do — suffer  more,  are  gentler  and  sweeter, 
give  more  thought  and  time  and  strength  to  them, 
and  deserve  more  in  return.  We  are  not  in  danger 
of  ever  overdoing  our  gratitude  to  our  mothers  or 
of  showing  them  too  much  kindness.  But  fathers 
also  hunger  for  love  from  their  children.  Max 
O'Rell  has  a  strong  word  somewhere  about  the 
beauty  of  a  daughter's  attention  and  devotion  to 
her  father,  saying  also  that  such  love  and  appre- 
ciation are  rare.  Love  your  mother  and  give  her 
high  honor,  but  do  not  forget  that  you  can  give 
your  father  great  joy  by  being  kind  to  him.  He 
loves  you  too  and  has  lived  for  you  all  the  years. 
He  needs  your  affection  and  will  be  cheered  by 
your  thoughtfulness  and  attention. 

I  want  to  say  some  earnest  words  about  the 
home-life  we  must  live  if  we  are  to  make  our 
homes  little  gardens  of  Eden.  As  in  everything, 
love  is  the  great  master  secret  of  home  happiness. 
When  love  is  left  out,  the  peace  is  broken.  We 
must  remember  too  that  love  needs  expression. 
There  are  men  who  love  their  wives  and  would 
die  for  them,  but  who  are  not  always  gentle  and 
kind  to  them.  There  are  wives  who  love  their 
husbands,  but  say  Httlc  about  it  and  do  not  take 


OUR  NEW  EDENS  15 

pains  to  show  it.  There  is  need  for  love  that  is 
affectionate,  thoughtful,  fond  in  its  expression. 
Bring  your  flowers  while  they  will  do  good  and 
do  not  keep  them  for  the  day  of  the  funeral. 

"You  placed  this  flower  in  her  hand,  you  say, 
This  pure,  pale  rose  in  her  hand  of  clay  ? 
Methuiks,  could  she  lift  her  sealed  eyes, 
They  would  meet  your  own  with  grieved  surprise, 

■X-  *  -x-  -x-  *  * 

When  did  you  give  her  a  flower  before  ? 

Ah,  well,  what  matter,  when  life  is  o'er? 
•X-  ■«•***  * 

But  I  pray  you  think 
That  love  will  starve  if  it  is  not  fed — 
That  true  hearts  pray  for  their  daily  bread." 

Parents  cannot  think  to©  seriously  of  what  they 
should  try  to  make  their  homes  for  the  sake  of 
their  children.  They  are  given  to  us  in  tender 
infancy  to  be  brought  up  by  us  for  worthy,  beau- 
tiful lives.  It  is  our  duty  to  teach  them  and  train 
them  so  that  they  shall  be  ready  by  and  by  for 
the  positions  in  life  they  may  be  called  to  fill. 
The  place  of  the  home-life  among  the  educational 
influences  which  help  to  mold  and  shape 
character  is  supreme  in  its  importance.  It  is  not 
enough  to  have  a  good  house  to  live  in.  It  is  not 
enough  to  have  fine  carpets,  and  handsome  furni- 
ture and  pictures,   and   bric-a-brac,   and  musical 


1 6  OUR  NEW  EDENS 

instruments,  and  to  live  off  the  best  products  of 
the  fields  and  of  the  gardens.  Most  of  the  world's 
worthiest  men  and  women,  those  who  have 
blessed  the  world  the  most,  were  brought  up  in 
plain  homes,  without  luxury.  It  is  the  tone  of 
the  home-life  that  is  important.  We  should  make 
it  pure,  elevating,  refining,  inspiring.  The  books 
w^e  bring  in,  the  papers  and  magazines,  the  guests 
w^e  have  at  our  tables  and  admit  to  our  firesides, 
the  home  conversation,  the  pictures  we  hang  on 
our  walls — all  these  are  educative. 

Then  the  religious  influences  are  vitally  im- 
portant. In  that  first  garden  home  the  Lord 
came  and  went  as  a  familiar  friend.  Christ  must 
be  our  guest  if  our  home  is  to  be  a  fit  place  either 
for  our  children  or  for  ourselves.  If  no  window 
opens  into  heaven,  it  is  not  a  true  home.  If  there 
is  no  prayer  in  it,  it  is  not  a  home  at  all — it  is 
only  a  heathen  or  atheistic  lodging-place. 

A  good  man  tells  of  going  back  to  the  home 
of  his  childhood  and  of  being  put  to  sleep  in  the 
spare  room.  Opening  a  closet,  he  saw  an  old 
stool  there,  faded  and  worn,  and  noticed  espe- 
cially two  deep  dents  in  the  cushion.  Evidently 
they  were  dents  made  by  a  pair  of  knees.  He 
understood  at  a  glance.  It  was  on  that  stool 
his  mother  had  knelt  daily  through  years  as  she 


OUR  NEW  EDENS  17 

prayed  for  her  children,  and  prayed  them  one  by 
one  into  the  kingdom.  There  should  be  such  a 
stool  or  spot  in  every  home,  where  mothers  and 
fathers  bow  morning  and  night  to  plead  for  their 
children. 

They  say  that  family  worship  is  falling  into  dis- 
use— going  out  of  fashion.  It  is  a  great  loss  to 
the  world  if  this  is  true.  There  is  a  story  of  one 
man  whom  his  wife  urged  to  begin  family  pray- 
ers. It  was  hard  the  first  time.  A  Bible  chapter 
had  been  read  and  the  two  were  on  their  knees, 
but  there  was  silence — the  prayer  did  not  begin. 
The  wife  at  length  cried  out,  "  O  God,  give  John 
a  lift."  The  lift  was  given  and  the  sealed  lips 
were  opened.  It  may  not  be  easy  to  start  family 
prayers,  but  if  we  try,  God  will  give  us  a  lift,  and 
then  great  joy  and  good  will  follow. 

There  are  godly  mothers  who  every  day  kneel 
by  their  children's  sides  and  pray  with  them,  and 
there  is  great  power  in  a  mother's  prayer.  One 
writes : — 

"When  mother  prayed,  then  all  the  air 
Grew  tremulous  with  music  rare  ; 
Love's  earnest  pleading  for  its  own 
Was  wafted  heavenward  to  the  throne. 

*  God  bless  my  children  ' — thus  the  prayer  : 


i8  OUR  NEW  EDENS 

"  *  Keep  them  unspotted  everywhere 
O  Father  God  ! '   In  softest  tone 
Echoed  the  whisper  upward  blown 
When  mother  prayed. 

*'0  dread  the  day  when  mother's  prayer 
Breathes  out  no  more  her  heart' s  fond  care ; 
For  blessings  rich  from  heavenly  zone 
Came  angel-like  from  heights  far  flown, 
When  mother  prayed." 

We  talk  about  the  dangers  of  the  street  for  our 
children,  and  God  alone  knows  how  real  and  how 
great  the  dangers  are.  What  is  the  best  way  to 
save  them  from  these  perils  ?  We  must  do  it  in 
the  home.  There  is  a  tendency  to  roll  the 
responsibility  for  the  religious  care  and  protection 
of  children  over  on  the  church.  But  we  cannot 
evade  our  personal  duty  in  this  way.  Parents  are 
the  first  custodians  of  their  children's  lives.  If 
they  would  meet  their  responsibility  and  be  able 
to  look  God  and  their  children  in  the  face  at  the 
judgment,  they  must  make  their  homes  as  nearly 
gardens  of  Eden  as  possible.  The  way  to  save 
the  boys  from  the  temptations  of  the  streets  is  to 
make  home  so  bright,  so  sweet,  so  beautiful,  so 
happy,  so  full  of  love,  joy,  and  prayer,  that  the 
streets  will  have  no  attractiveness  for  them,  no 
power  to  win  them  away.  '*  Overcome  evil  with 
good." 


OUR  NEW  EDENS  19 

"  Come,  let  us  live  with  our  children,"  is  the 
call  of  the  new  education.  The  parents  who  are 
ready  to  do  this  will  not  be  sorry  for  it  by  and 
by.  No  other  work  we  can  do  will  yield  larger 
returns.  But  there  are  some  who  do  not  care  to 
devote  themselves  in  this  way  to  the  teaching 
and  training  of  their  children.  "It  is  too  much 
trouble,"  they  say.  It  is  pathetic  to  think  of  how 
many  children  there  are  who  are  always  in  the 
way,  whose  noise  always  jars  home  nerves,  who 
never  get  much  love  at  home. 

Let  us  live  with  our  children.  Let  us  take 
them  into  our  lives.  Let  us  enter  into  their  lives. 
The  best  thing  a  father  can  do  for  his  boy  is  to 
be  a  boy  again  himself  with  him.  The  best  thing 
a  mother  can  do  for  her  daughter  is  to  be  a  girl 
again  herself  with  her.  There  is  no  revival 
needed  to-day  quite  so  imperatively  as  a  revival 
of  sweet,  beautiful  homes  that  shall  clutch  the 
lives  of  the  boys  and  girls  in  them  with  a  clutch 
of  love  from  which  no  power  of  temptation  or  of 
evil  can  ever  tear  them  away. 

I  call  upon  all  parents  who  care  to  heed  my 
pleading  to  begin  to-day  to  make  their  homes 
more  winning,  more  attractive,  more  happy, 
sweeter,  heavenlier.  Religion  ?  Yes,  but  not 
religion  made  somber  or  distasteful,  so  that  your 


20  OUR  NEW  EDENS 

children  will  not  be  influenced  by  it.  Make  your 
religion  sunny,  cheerful,  full  of  sympathy  with 
child-life,  glad,  songful — a  religion  for  boys  and 
girls.  There  is  no  reason  why  religion  in  a  home 
should  not  be  winsome,  just  as  the  life  of  Christ 
was.  Bring  heaven  down  into  your  homes.  Try 
to  make  such  a  home-life  as  must  have  been  in 
Joseph's  home  at  Nazareth  when  Jesus  was  a 
boy  there.  God  has  planted  a  new  garden  of 
Eden  for  you  to  dress  and  keep.     Tend  it  well. 

There  is  an  Eastern  legend  of  a  rose  so  sweet 
that  "  even  the  earth  which  lies  round  its  roots 
becomes  permeated  with  fragrance,  and  httle  bits 
of  it  are  sold  as  amulets  and  worn  by  princes." 
Make  your  home  so  sweet,  so  heavenly,  with  love 
and  prayer  and  song  and  holy  living,  that  all 
about  it  there  shall  be  the  fragrance  of  the  heart 
of  Christ. 

Thus  let  us  make  our  homes  little  Eden  gar- 
dens, in  which  something  of  the  beauty,  the 
sweetness,  and  the  joy  of  heaven  shall  be  repro- 
duced on  earth,  to  make  the  world  believe  in  the 
home  above  in  the  Father's  house,  waiting  for  all 
the  Master's  friends. 


II 

THE   WAY   TO   GOD 


"  I  am  the  way." — John  xiv.  6. 

"O  patient  Love,  that  weariest  not  of  me — 
Alone  of  all,  Thou  weariest  not  of  me  — 
Oh,  bear  with  me  till  I  am  lost  in  Thee  ; 
Oh,  bear  with  me  till  I  am  found  in  Thee. 

"  Speak  to  me  out  of  the  silences,  Lord, 
That  my  spirit  may  know, 
As  forward  I  go, 
That  Thy  pierced  hands  are  lifting  me  over  the  ford." 
— Lauchlan  Maclean  Watt. 


II 

THE   WAY  TO   GOD 

Jesus  says  He  is  the  way  to  God.  It  is  the 
figure  of  a  road  that  is  in  His  mind.  He  had 
spoken  of  going  away  to  prepare  a  place  for  His 
disciples,  adding  that  He  would  come  again  to 
receive  them  to  Himself,  that  where  He  is  they 
may  be  also.  He  then  said  further,  "  Whither  I 
go,  ye  know  the  way."  Thomas,  whose  faith  was 
always  slow,  said,  "  Lord,  we  know  not  whither 
Thou  goest;  how  know  we  the  way?"  Jesus  an- 
swered, "  I  am  the  way."  The  meaning  of  His 
reply  was  that  it  is  not  necessary  to  know  every^- 
thing  or  even  anything  about  the  details  of  the 
way.  If  we  know  Christ,  if  we  are  His,  if  we  are 
following  Him,  that  is  enough ;  we  will  then  find 
the  way.  To  be  with  Him  is  to  be  in  the  way,  for 
He  Himself  is  the  way. 

It  is  very  important  that  we  should  know  the 

way  to  heaven.     No  one  knows  where  heaven  is. 

There  have  been   guesses   and  speculations.     A 

certain  star  is  heaven,  some  have  said  to  us.    This 

23 


24  OUR  NEW  EDENS 

great  universe,  with  its  millions  of  worlds  and  sys- 
tems of  worlds,  astronomers  tell  us,  is  revolving 
round  one  center,  one  star  in  a  certain  constella- 
tion. That  central  star,  they  suggest,  may  be  the 
place  of  the  great  white  throne,  the  Father's 
house  to  which  Jesus  said  He  was  going,  whither 
He  told  His  disciples  they  also  should  come  when 
their  work  on  earth  was  finished. 

But  no  one  knows  surely  where  heaven  is,  and 
no  one  knows  the  way  there.  You  can  find 
guides  to  show  you  the  way  through  the  cata- 
combs, or  among  the  Alps,  or  amid  the  build- 
ings and  ruins  of  ancient  Rome,  or  across  some 
deep,  impenetrable  forest.  But  when  you  come 
to  die,  and  your  spirit  leaves  your  body,  who  will 
show  you  the  way  home  to  the  Father's  house  ? 
And  you  never  can  get  there  alone  without  guid- 
ance.    There  are  no  maps  or  charts  of  the  way. 

The  question  of  Thomas  seems  proper  enough  : 
"  How  can  we  know  the  way  ?  "  The  answer  of 
Jesus  is  full  of  comfort :  "  I  am  the  way."  We 
need  not  trouble  ourselves  with  geographical 
or  astronomical  questions,  nor  try  to  find  a  chart 
of  the  road  to  heaven.  If  we  are  Christ's,  no 
matter  where  we  die,  we  shall  find  ourselves  in 
the  hands  of  our  Saviour,  and  with  Him  will  be 
in  heaven. 


THE  WAY  TO  GOD  25 

There  is  another  need  still  more  important  than 
finding  the  way  to  heaven.  We  need  to  find  the 
way  to  God.  We  never  can  get  to  heaven  unless 
we  have  first  got  to  God.  Here,  too,  Jesus  is  the 
way.  He  said,  "  I  am  the  way,"  and  then  He 
added,  "  No  one  cometh  unto  the  Father,  but  by 
Me."  To  get  to  God  is  life's  first  and  greatest 
need.  Sin  is  absence  from  God.  In  a  certain 
sense  we  never  can  get  away  from  God. 

*<  Whither  shall  I  go  from  Thy  Spirit? 
Or  whither  shall  I  flee  from  Thy  presence  ?  ' ' 

Wherever  we  turn  God  is.  But  in  a  moral  and 
spiritual  sense,  only  those  who  have  repented  and 
returned  to  God  are  near  Him.  In  our  sinful 
state  we  are  in  the  "  far  country."  We  must  get 
to  God  or  we  shall  perish.  The  cry  of  the  world 
in  all  ages  has  been, "  Show  us  the  Father."  This 
is  the  interpretation  of  all  heathen  worship.  Men 
everywhere  have  been  groping  in  the  darkness, 
trying  to  find  God.  Now  Jesus  says,  "  I  am  the 
way  to  the  Father." 

He  does  not  say,  "  I  will  show  you  the  way." 
He  does  that  too.  He  came  to  guide  us  in  the 
way.  He  passed  over  this  world,  from  the  cradle 
to  the  gates  of  glory,  and  left  His  footprints 
wherever   He  went.      In  the  early   days   of  our 


26  OUR  NEW  EDENS 

country,  when  a  pioneer  went  through  a  primeval 
forest,  his  the  first  feet  to  find  their  way,  he  would 
blaze  his  path  with  his  ax  on  the  trees,  and  then 
others  coming  after  him  could  easily  find  the  way. 
Jesus,  in  going  through  life,  marked  His  way,  and 
all  who  come  after  Him  may  see  where  He 
walked  and  follow  Him.  He  never  went  on  any 
wrong  path.  He  never  was  misled.  He  marked 
out  for  us  the  way  to  God. 

But  that  is  not  what  He  says  here.  He  says : 
"  I  am  the  way.  I  Myself  am  the  way."  The 
figure  is  very  suggestive.  Often  the  words  of 
Christ  invite  us  to  Him  as  if  we  had  to  go  a  dis- 
tance, longer  or  shorter,  to  get  to  Him.  He  says, 
"  Come  unto  Me."  We  see  Him  yonder,  and  He 
is  wondrously  gracious.  But  we  must  go  on 
over  the  road  that  intervenes  to  reach  Him. 
When  we  get  there,  we  know  He  will  receive  us, 
welcome  us,  and  bless  us.  But  suppose  we  never 
get  to  Him  ?  Suppose  we  faint  and  fall  by  the 
way  ?  Yet  now  we  learn  that  Christ  is  more  than 
goal,  that  He  does  not  fix  a  point  at  which  He 
will  meet  us,  that  there  is  no  long  or  even  short 
space  to  cross  over  to  get  to  His  feet.  He  is  the 
way  as  well  as  the  goal.  We  have  not  even  one 
step  to  take  before  we  come  to  Him. 


THE  WAY  TO  GOD  27 

**  Thou  art  the  way. 
Hadst  Thou  been  nothing  but  the  goal, 

I  cannot  say 
If  thou  hadst  ever  met  my  soul. 

"  I  cannot  see — 
I,  child  of  process — if  there  lies 

An  end  for  me, 
Full  of  repose,  full  of  replies. 

'*  I'll  not  reproach 
The  way  that  goes,  my  feet  that  stir. 

Access,  approach 
Art  Thou,  time,  way,  and  wayfarer." 

A  beautiful  story  is  told  of  Agassiz.  When  he 
was  a  boy  his  family  lived  on  the  edge  of  a  lake 
in  Switzerland.  One  day  the  father  was  on  the 
other  side  of  the  lake,  and  Louis  and  a  younger 
brother  set  out  on  the  ice  to  join  him.  The 
mother  watched  the  boys  from  her  window. 
They  got  along  well  till  they  came  to  a  wide 
crack  in  the  ice.  The  taller  boy  leaped  over 
easily,  but  the  other  hesitated.  "  The  httle  fellow 
will  fall  in,"  the  mother  said,  ''  and  drown."  But 
as  she  watched  a  moment  she  saw  Louis,  the 
older  boy,  get  down  on  the  ice,  laying  himself 
across  the  crack,  his  hands  on  one  side  and  his 
feet  on  the  other,  making  a  bridge  of  his  body. 
Then  she  saw  the  little  fellow  climb  over  him  in 


28  OUR  NEW  EDENS 

safety  to  the  other  side,  and  both  the  boys  run  on 
to  find  their  father.  This  illustrates  what  Jesus 
Christ  did  for  us.  There  was  a  great  chasm  which 
sin  had  made  between  us  and  God.  We  could 
not  cross  that  chasm  ourselves.  Our  goodness 
never  could  reach  to  the  Divine  requirements. 
The  holiest  of  us  could  never  get  to  heaven  by 
any  obedience  of  our  own.  Then  Jesus  came 
and  laid  Himself  down  in  love  across  the  chasm, 
making  of  His  own  blessed  life  a  bridge  on  which 
whosoever  will  may  pass  over  into  the  presence 
and  the  joy  of  the  Father.     "  I  am  the  way." 

There  are  two  other  words  here  which  help  us 
to  understand  the  meaning  of  this  figure.  Jesus 
said,  "  I  am  the  way,  and  the  truth,  and  the  life." 

"  I  am  the  truth."  He  does  not  say  that  He 
speaks  the  truth,  reveals  it.  He  did  this.  He 
was  the  most  wonderful  teacher  the  world  ever 
heard.  No  man  ever  spoke  as  He  did.  His 
words  are  like  stars  shining  in  the  world's  dark- 
ness. We  cannot  begin  to  understand  what  the 
world  owes  to  the  teachings  of  Jesus.  The  great 
truths  which  mean  so  much,  the  truths  about 
God's  love,  mercy,  and  goodness,  seem  so  familiar 
to  us  that  they  are  almost  commonplace.  Yet  it 
was  Jesus  who  first  made  known  to  the  world 
these  truths.     Two  thousand  years  ago   nobody 


THE  WAY  TO  GOD  29 

knew  them.  The  earth  lay  in  moral  darkness 
then.     Jesus  was  a  great  teacher  of  truth. 

But  He  does  not  say  He  is  a  revealer  of  the 
truth.  **  I  am  the  truth "  is  the  tremendous 
assertion.  The  truth  was  not  merely  spoken  by 
His  lips  ;  it  was  embodied  in  His  person  and  in 
His  life.  He  is  the  truth.  This  is  more,  too, 
than  if  He  had  said,  **  I  am  true."  He  was  true — 
there  was  nothing  false  in  Him,  nothing  insincere. 
He  never  professed  to  be  what  He  was  not.  He 
never  put  forth  claims  which  He  did  not  fulfill. 
He  never  made  promises  which  He  did  not  keep. 
Not  one  word  He  ever  spoke  has  failed  or  will 
fail.  Many  good  people  are  not  so  good  as  they 
profess  to  be,  but  Jesus  was  absolutely  true.  We 
may  build  our  hopes  for  eternity  on  any  one  of 
His  sayings. 

But  there  is  more  than  this  in  what  He  says 
here.  He  is  a  revealer  of  the  truth.  He  is  true. 
But  He  says,  **  I  am  the  truth."  God  Himself  is 
the  great  central  fountain  of  all  truth.  All  truth 
flows  from  Him.  Christ  was  the  incarnation  of 
God — God  manifest,  made  known,  in  the  flesh. 
"  He  that  hath  seen  Me  hath  seen  the  Father,"  he 
said.  All  that  God  is  was  revealed,  was  made 
known,  in  Jesus  Christ.     "  I  am  the  truth." 

He  said  further,  "  I  am  the  life."     Again  notice 


30  OUR  NEW  EDENS 

that  He  does  not  say :  "  I  will  show  you  the 
life.  I  will  tell  you  how  to  find  life."  You  and 
I,  if  living  truly,  may  show  others  how  to  find 
life.  We  can  lead  them  to  the  fountain  of  life. 
That  is  what  every  sincere  preacher  of  the  gospel 
is  doing  continually.  That  is  what  every  faithful 
teacher  is  doing.  That  is  what  every  saintly  dis- 
ciple does.  But  no  preacher,  no  teacher,  no 
holiest  saint,  can  say  to  any  other,  "  I  am  the 
life."  We  have  no  life  to  give  to  others.  We 
cannot  spare  any  of  the  oil  out  of  our  vessel  to 
give  for  any  other  one's  lamp.  We  cannot  im- 
part any  portion  of  our  little  measure  of  grace  to 
any  dearest  friend  who  needs.  Only  Christ  can 
say,  "  I  am  the  life."  He  does  not  merely  tell  us 
that  there  is  life — He  says,  "  Come  unto  Me  and 
ye  shall  have  life."  The  Hfe  is  in  Himself — all 
life's  fullness — and  if  we  believe  in  Him  we  are 
brought  into  union  with  Him,  and  because  He 
lives,  we  live  too. 

Now  because  Christ  is  the  truth  and  the  life, 
He  also  is  the  way — that  is,  the  way  to  heaven 
and  the  way  to  God.  But  how  is  He  the  way  ? 
In  what  manner  did  Jesus  by  His  life  or  by  His 
death  become  a  way,  or  make  His  life  a  way  to 
God? 

He  did  it  in  his  incarnation.     He  was  the  Son 


THE  WAY  TO  GOD  31 

of  God — He  became  Son  of  man ;  thus  His  won- 
derful being  bridged  the  enormous  chasm  between 
earth  and  heaven,  between  the  "  far  country  "  and 
the  Father's  house.  In  His  humiHation  He 
reaches  down  to  the  lowest  depth  of  human  sin 
and  need,  and  in  His  Divine  life  He  reaches  up  to 
the  heart  of  the  Father.  Thus  He  is  the  way 
from  the  abysses  of  sin  to  the  supremest  reaches 
of  glory,  and  on  Him  whosoever  will  may  go  up 
out  of  the  dust  into  blessedness. 

Christ  is  the  way  to  God,  also,  because  He 
revealed  God,  brought  God  down  into  our  com- 
mon life.  It  was  this  that  made  the  incarnation 
so  wonderful.  Jesus  said,  "  He  that  hath  seen 
Me  hath  seen  the  Father."  Philip  and  the  other 
disciples  had  been  with  their  Master  all  the  time 
for  three  years,  knowing  Him  intimately  and  see- 
ing His  life  in  its  familiar  revealings.  They  loved 
Him,  but  they  did  not  dream  that  what  they  saw 
in  Him  was  what  their  hearts  were  crying  out  to 
see — the  beauty  and  glory  of  the  Father.  Philip 
was  thinking  of  some  dazzling  splendor,  some 
radiance  like  a  transfiguration,  when  he  pleaded, 
"  Show  us  the  Father."  Instead  of  this,  however, 
he  had  been  seeing  the  Father  all  the  time  in  the 
sweet,  patient,  pure,  gentle,  thoughtful,  lowly  life 
of  Jesus.     We  are  all  apt  to  make  Philip's  mis- 


32  OUR  NEW  EDENS 

take,  looking  up  to  the  skies  for  the  glory  that  is 
shining  close  to  our  feet. 

In  one  of  his  poems  Lowell  tells  the  story 
of  an  ancient  prophet  who  made  a  pilgrimage 
into  the  wilderness  until  he  reached  Mount  Sinai. 
God's  presence  had  deserted  him ;  and  he  thought 
that  at  Sinai,  if  anywhere,  he  should  find  it  again. 
As  he  engaged  in  prayer  on  the  holy  mount, 
expecting  some  strange  and  startling  answer  to 
his  prayers,  the  moss  at  his  feet  unfolded  and  a 
violet  showed  itself  through  the  moss.  That  was 
the  answer.  Then  he  remembered  that  just  before 
he  left  home  his  little  daughter  had  come  running 
to  him,  offering  him  a  bouquet  of  these  very 
violets.  They  grew  at  his  own  door;  he  saw 
them  every  day.  He  had  traveled  all  that  dis- 
tance for  a  message  that  had  been  whispering 
itself  to  him  all  the  time. 

Many  people  miss  the  richest  revealings  of 
God's  love  because  they  expect  the  good  they 
seek  to  come  in  some  startling  or  unusual  way. 
We  do  not  have  to  go  up  to  heaven  to  find  God ; 
He  has  come  down  close  beside  us.  We  do  not 
need  to  ask  for  theophanles  and  transfigurations 
— God  comes  to  us  in  the  breaking  of  bread,  in 
the  love  of  our  friends,  in  the  sweet  amenities  of 
our  homes,  in  the  simplicity  of  a  little  child. 


THE  WAY  TO  GOD  33 

Even  yet  people  read  the  gospels  and  wonder 
if  God  loves  them,  if  God  sympathizes  with  them 
in  their  sorrows,  if  God  cares  when  they  have 
troubles,  if  God  hears  and  answers  their  prayers, 
if  God  is  really  gentle,  patient,  kind,  easily 
approached,  if  God  is  indeed  merciful,  gracious, 
and  long-suffering.  Even  yet  men  cry  out,  "  O 
that  I  knew  where  I  might  find  God !  "  Even  yet 
disciples  plead,  "  Show  us  the  Father."  Here  is 
a  little  story  of  a  child  and  its  mother,  which 
illustrates  the  slowness  of  the  world  to  see  God 
in  Christ. 

"  A  mother  drew  her  darling  to  her  breast, 
And  of  her  father  in  a  far-off  land 
She  strove  to  make  the  child-heart  understand, 

While,  with  a  kiss  of  twofold  love  expressed, 

Intent  to  make  his  fondness  manifest, 

She  said,  *Thy  father  sends  his  love  to  thee.' 
The  child  looked  up,  as  fain  the  gift  to  see. 

And  from  rose-lips,  *  Where  is  it  ?  '  came  the  quest. 

** '  Where  is  it? '     Foolish  child  to  question  thus, 
When  all  around  and  in  her  mother's  eyes 
It  shone,  and  in  its  fullness  she  could  bask. 
Love  needs  no  token.  But  are  we  more  wise  ? 
Our  heavenly  Father  sends  His  love  to  us. 
*  Where  is  it  ?  '  in  our  ignorance  we  ask." 

Yes,  we  are  like  the  child.     Christ  says  to  us, 
*'  Your  Father  sends  His  love  to  you."     We  look 
3 


34 


OUR  NEW  EDENS 


up  and  round  about  us,  and  ask,  "  Where  is  it  ? 
where  is  God's  love  ? "  Yet  all  the  while  we 
have  our  New  Testament  in  our  hands,  with  its 
blessed  story  of  the  love,  the  compassion,  the 
gentleness,  the  purity,  the  kindness,  the  wondrous 
self-sacrifice  of  Jesus.  We  do  not  think  that  in 
seeing  Him  we  are  seeing  the  Father,  that  the 
lovely  things  we  behold  in  Him  are  really  reveal- 
ines  of  God.  In  Christ  God  indeed  came  down 
and  lived  among  men  to  convince  them  of  His 
love  for  them,  to  make  them  know  that  He  is 
their  Father,  to  show  them  His  grace  and  truth. 
As  a  revealer,  Christ  is  the  way  to  the  Father. 

He  is  the  way  also  as  the  Redeemer.  God 
does  not  love  the  world  because  Christ  died  for 
it — it  is  the  other  way ;  Christ  died  for  the  world 
because  God  loved  it.  But  the  Scriptures  teach 
very  plainly  that  it  was  necessary  for  the  Son  of 
God  to  die  to  make  the  way  to  life  and  hope  and 
heaven.  Somehow  the  cross  opened  the  way  for 
men  to  come  to  God.  There  was  a  veil  in  the 
temple  which  hid  the  holy  of  holies,  the  place  of 
God's  presence.  No  one  but  the  priest  could 
pass  behind  the  veil.  That  meant  separation  from 
God  because  of  sin.  When  Christ  was  dying,  that 
veil  was  torn  in  two  as  by  an  invisible  hand.  This 
meant  that  now  the  way  was  opened  to  God  for 


THE  WAY  TO  GOD  35 

everyone  who  would  come.  Thus  Christ  became 
the  way  to  God  through  His  death. 

There  is  another  word  here.  "  I  am  the  way 
.  .  .  no  one  cometh  unto  the  Father,  but  by  Me." 
Not  only  is  He  the  way  to  God,  but  there  is  no 
other  way.  To  reject  Christ  is  therefore  to  reject 
life  and  to  close  on  one's  self  the  only  way  to 
God.  The  mercy  of  God  is  wide  as  the  sea. 
"  Whosoever  will  may  come.  Him  that  cometh 
unto  Me  I  will  in  no  wise  cast  out."  But  there  is 
only  one  way  to  come.  Christ  is  the  way  to  God. 
You  need  not  vex  yourself  about  theological 
questions.  You  need  not  be  disturbed  about  the 
articles  of  the  creed  which  you  cannot  under- 
stand. Christ  is  the  way  to  God.  To  love  Christ 
is  to  love  God.  To  have  Christ  for  your  friend  is 
to  have  God  for  your  friend.  To  rest  in  Christ  is 
to  be  in  the  clasp  of  the  everlasting  arms. 

Thus  Christ  is  the  way  to  peace,  the  peace  of 
God.  He  is  the  way  to  happiness.  He  is  the 
way  to  blessing  and  to  all  that  is  good.  Christ 
is  all  that  we  need.  The  trouble  with  many  of  us 
is  that  we  think  we  can  find  the  satisfying  of  our 
wants  and  hungers  in  places  or  things  or  circum- 
stances. 

*'0  heart,  thou  need'st  not  fly  away 
To  find  thy  rest. 


36  OUR  NEW  EDENS 

Peace  seeks  for  thee,  if  thou  wilt  stay 

And  just  be  blessed. 
Fold  up  thy  wings,  and  sit  at  Jesus'  feet ; 
There  wilt  thou  find  thy  heaven — a  rest  complete." 

For  a  practical  thought,  set  together  the  ques- 
tion of  Thomas  and  the  answer  of  Jesus.  **  How 
can  we  know  the  way  ?  "  "I  am  the  way."  We 
are  all  the  while  asking  Thomas's  question.  We 
come  to  points  every  day  where  we  are  bewil- 
dered, and  know  not  where  to  go  or  what  to  do. 
We  see  no  path  before  us.  Sometimes  it  is  a 
question  of  duty.  Sometimes  it  is  a  choice  that 
must  be  made  between  two  courses.  And  we  see 
no  escape  from  it,  no  hope  of  relief  or  help,  no 
way  out  of  it. 

Or  it  may  concern  life  in  a  larger  sense.  What 
am  I  ?  Why  am  I  here  ?  What  is  there  beyond 
the  bourn  of  death  ?  What  is  God  ?  Where  is 
He  ?  Where  am  I  going  ?  How  can  I  find  Him  ? 
What  and  where  is  heaven  ?  How  can  I  get 
there  ?  Everyone  who  thinks  at  all  asks  such 
questions  at  some  time.  "  How  can  we  know  the 
way  ?  " 

To  all  such  questions  Jesus  answers,  "  I  am  the 
way."  He  is  the  way  through  all  perplexities. 
He  is  the  way  out  of  all  trouble  into  comfort, 
peace,  joy.      He  is  the  way  through  all  danger 


THE  WAY  TO  GOD  37 

into  safety.  He  is  the  way  out  of  doubt  into 
faith.  He  is  the  way  from  sin  to  holiness.  He  is 
the  way  from  death  to  Hfe.  He  is  the  way  from 
earth  to  heaven. 

Elsewhere  He  says,  "  I  am  the  door."  A  door 
is  for  entrance.  We  pass  in  through  the  door  to 
the  beauty,  the  comfort,  the  joy,  the  love,  within. 
Christ  is  the  door  to  everything  that  is  worthy 
and  good  and  blessed  and  eternal.  There  is  only 
one  door ;  if  we  will  not  enter  at  it,  we  must  stay 
out  in  the  darkness  and  sorrow. 

One  of  Christ's  great  sayings  is  this :  "  I  am 
the  light  of  the  world :  he  that  followeth  Me 
shall  not  walk  in  the  darkness."  Wc  may  not 
know  where  we  are  going.  We  may  not  under- 
stand the  things  we  are  experiencing.  We  may 
be  in  sorrow.  Loss  may  be  stripping  us  bare. 
We  may  seem  to  be  in  a  calamity.  But  if  we  are 
walking  close  to  Christ,  we  are  not  in  darkness. 
All  is  plain  to  Him,  and  that  is  enough. 

*'  I  know  not — the  way  is  so  misty — 
The  joys  or  the  griefs  it  shall  bring, 
What  clouds  are  o'erhanging  the  future, 

What  flowers  by  the  roadside  shall  spring ; 
But  there's  One  who  will  journey  beside  me, 

Nor  in  weal,  nor  in  woe,  will  forsake ; 
And  this  is  my  solace  and  comfort — 
'  He  knoweth  the  way  that  I  take. '  ' ' 


38  OUR  NEW  EDENS 

"  How  can  we  know  the  way  ?  "  "I  am  the 
way."  No  one  can  ever  be  lost  with  Christ.  No 
one  can  ever  get  out  of  the  way  with  Him.  The 
greatest  and  saddest  of  all  trials  is  to  be  in  some 
trouble  and  to  be  alone,  to  have  no  one  with  us. 
Without  Christ  what  can  any  one  do  in  the  dark- 
ness, or  in  the  storm,  or  in  the  floods  ?  How 
could  any  one  find  the  v/ay  home  through  this 
world's  gloom  and  peril  without  Christ  ?  Having 
Christ  we  do  not  need  to  have  to  understand 
things.     He  understands — and  that  is  enough. 

A  saintly  woman  suffering  for  weary  months  in 
painful  illness  said  to  her  pastor  one  day,  shortly 
before  she  went  to  heaven  :  "  I  have  such  a  lovely 
robin  that  sings  outside  my  window.  In  the  early 
morning,  as  I  lie  here,  he  serenades  me."  Then, 
as  a  smile  brightened  her  thin  features,  she  added, 
"  I  love  him  because  he  sings  in  the  rain."  That 
is  the  most  beautiful  thing  about  the  robin.  When 
the  storm  has  silenced  almost  every  other  song 
bird,  the  robin  sings  on — sings  in  the  rain.  That 
is  the  way  the  Christian  who  is  with  Christ  may 
do.  Anybody  can  sing  in  the  sunshine ;  you  and 
I  should  sing  on  when  the  sun  has  gone  down,  or 
when  clouds  pour  out  their  rains,  for  Christ  is 
with  us.     We  should  sing  in  the  rain. 

Why  should  we  be  afraid,  tliough  we  cannot 


THE  WAY  TO  GOD  39 

see  the  path,  though  all  seems  inextricable  con- 
fusion about  us,  though  circumstances  appear  to 
be  against  us  ?  Christ  is  the  way  and  we  never 
can  be  harmed  and  never  can  get  lost  while  He  is 
with  us.  To  all  our  questions  and  fears  He  an- 
swers, "  I  am  the  way,"  and  that  is  enough. 

"I  know  not  where  His  islands  lift 
Their  fronded  palms  in  air  ; 
I  only  know  I  cannot  drift 
Beyond  His  love  and  care." 

But  we  must  remember  that  there  is  no  other 
way  to  God,  to  the  Father's  house,  no  other  way 
home,  no  other  who  can  be  to  us  the  way  in  life's 
darkness  and  danger.  "  I  am  the  way  ....  no 
one  Cometh  unto  the  Father,  but  by  Me." 

Some  of  us  scarcely  know  where  we  are  or 
whither  we  are  going.  We  are  not  sure  of  our 
ground — whether  we  are  going  forward  or  grop- 
ing backward.  Perhaps  we  are  not  sure  of  our 
beliefs — we  are  troubled  about  some  of  the  doc- 
trines. Perhaps  we  are  not  sure  we  are  saved. 
We  are  like  men  lost  in  a  deep,  trackless  forest, 
not  knowing  the  way  out. 

Suppose  you  found  yourself  thus  lost  some 
clay,  wandering  helplessly,  hopelessly,  and  a  man 
came  to  you  who  knew  all  the  tangle  of  the  forest, 


40  OUR  NEW  EDENS 

offering  to  be  your  guide,  to  lead  you  through 
into  the  broad,  open  plain — and  to  your  home; 
what  would  you  do  ?  To-day,  when  you  are  in 
doubt  and  fear  and  perplexity,  sure  of  nothing,  in 
peril  of  being  lost,  not  knowing  what  to  do  or 
where  to  turn,  One  comes  to  you,  One  who  knows 
all  the  way,  One  who  knows  all  about  life  because 
He  has  lived  it  all,  and  He  offers  to  lead  you 
through  all  the  bewildering  tangles,  out  of  all  the 
doubt  and  fears,  out  of  the  gloom  and  the  danger 
— to  God,  to  the  Father's  house — home.  What 
should  you  do  ?     What  will  you  do  ? 

"Thank  God,  thank  God,  the  Man  is  found — 
Sure-footed,  knowing  well  the  ground. 
He  knows  the  road,  for  this  the  way 
He  traveled  once,  as  on  this  day. 
He  is  our  messenger  beside  ; 
He  is  our  door  and  path  and  guide." 


Ill 

PRAYER  IN   THE  CHRISTIAN  LIFE 


"  Pray  without  ceasing." — I.  Thes.  v.  17. 

'  No  help  Ijut  prayer, 
A  breath  that  fleets  beyond  this  vain  world 
And  touches  Him  that  made  it." 

Rather,  as  friends  sit  sometimes  hand  in  hand, 

Nor  mar  with  words  the  sweet  speech  of  their  eyes  ; 

So  in  soft  silence  let  us  oftener  bow, 

Nor  try  with  words  to  make  God  understand. 

Longing  is  prayer;  upon  its  wings  we  rise 

To  where  the  breath  of  heaven  beats  upon  our  brow." 


Ill 

PRAYER  IN  THE  CHRISTIAN  LIFE 

What  place  should  prayer  have  in  a  Christian 
life?  Should  we  pray  little  or  much?  Should 
we  confine  our  praying  to  certain  days — Sundays, 
for  example ;  or  to  certain  hours  or  moments  of 
our  days — mornings,  for  example,  then  evenings  ? 
Should  we  pray  concerning  certain  things,  certain 
affairs,  portions  only  of  our  life?  Are  there 
things  we  have  no  permission  to  take  to  God  in 
prayer?  Should  we  pray  only  in  certain  places 
— in  our  accustomed  closet  or  room  at  home,  or 
in  places  set  apart  for  divine  worship  ?  Is  there 
any  place  where  we  may  not  pray  ? 

There  is  a  word  of  Saint  Paul's  which  seems  to 
answer  all  these  questions.  "  Pray  without  ceas- 
ing." That  means,  pray  always  and  everywhere. 
There  is  nothing  we  may  not  take  to  God  in 
prayer,  asking  Him  to  help  us  do  it.  There  is  no 
hour  of  the  day  when  we  may  not  turn  to  God 
and  find  Him  ready  to  hear  and  bless  us.  The 
gates  of  prayer  are  never  shut  by  day  or  by  night. 

43 


44  OUR  NEW  EDENS 

There  is  no  place  where  we  may  not  pray.  God 
is  as  accessible  to  us  on  the  street,  in  the  desert, 
in  the  midst  of  a  great  storm  at  sea,  or  in  the  most 
debased  spot  of  the  earth  as  He  is  in  our  own 
sacred  closet  of  prayer,  in  a  consecrated  building, 
or  at  the  Lord's  table.     "  Pray  without  ceasing." 

But  how  is  it  possible  to  obey  this  teaching  ? 
Are  we  to  spend  all  our  time  on  our  knees  ? 
This  certainly  is  not  the  meaning.  We  have  our 
duties,  our  tasks,  our  work  to  do.  Suppose  that 
men  should  spend  all  their  days  at  home,  praying, 
for  a  month,  for  a  year,  what  would  become  of 
their  business?  What  would  their  families  do? 
Suppose  that  women  should  give  up  all  their 
duties — their  household  duties,  their  social  duties, 
all  the  work  that  now  fills  their  hands— and 
literally  pray  without  ceasing  the  remainder  of 
their  days,  would  they  please  God  ? 

Evidently  we  are  not  to  interpret  the  lesson 
that  way.  We  are  put  here  to  work.  "  Six  days 
shalt  thou  labor."  Our  duties  fill  our  hands 
every  hour.  We  sin  against  God  when  we 
neglect  any  of  these.  I  can  conceive  even  of  a 
kind  of  praying  that  would  be  sinful— praying 
when  some  imperative  task  demands  attention, 
when  some  one  needs  help,  neglecting  a  duty  of 
love,  that  you  may  attend  some  religious  service 


PRAYER  IN  THE  CHRISTIAN  LIFE  45 

or  keep  some  appointment  for  devotion.  It  is 
told  in  monastic  legends  of  Saint  Francesca  that 
although  she  never  wearied  in  her  religious  duties, 
yet  if  during  her  prayers  she  was  summoned 
away  by  any  domestic  service,  she  would  close 
her  book  cheerfully,  saying  that  a  wife  and 
mother,  when  called  upon,  must  quit  her  God  at 
the  altar  to  find  Him  in  the  duties  and  tasks  of 
her  home.  There  are  times  when  prayer  is  not 
the  duty  of  the  hour.  What,  then,  are  we  to 
understand  by  the  counsel,  "  Pray  without  ceas- 
ing  "  ? 

For  one  thing,  prayer  is  part  of  the  expression 
of  the  Christian's  very  life.  One  who  does  not 
pray  is  not  a  Christian,  is  not  a  religious  man. 
He  may  be  a  moral  man.  A  gentleman  said  the 
other  day  of  a  certain  prominent  business  man, 
"  He  is  the  most  moral  and  the  least  religious 
man  I  ever  knew."  He  meant  that  the  man  is 
honest,  honorable,  just,  generous,  charitable,  very 
careful  and  exact  in  all  his  relations  to  men,  but 
that  toward  God  he  is  utterly  indifferent,  never 
thinks  of  Him,  never  recognizes  Him  in  any  way, 
never  prays.  So  far  as  he  is  concerned,  there  is 
no  God.  This  man  would  not  himself  admit  as 
much.  He  would  say  he  believes  in  God.  But 
practically  he  is  an  agnostic  or  an  atheist.     He  is 


46  OUR  NEW  EDENS 

utterly  without  religion,  which  means  knowin^r 
God,  recognizing  God  as  Father  and  Friend, 
living  in  personal  relations  with  God. 

When   the  Lord  would  make  Ananias  under- 
stand   that   Saul    was    now  a  Christian,  he  said, 
"  Behold  he  prayeth."    When  a  man  begins  really 
to  pray  there  is  no  doubt  of  his  conversion.     Saul 
prayed  a  great   deal  before   he   accepted   Christ. 
He  was  a  rigid  Pharisee  and  was  very  religious, 
so  far  as  forms  of  religion  were  concerned.     But 
he  had  never  prayed  before  as  he  prayed  that  day 
after  he  had  seen  Christ.     The  Christian  should 
know   God  intimately.     One   writes,    "I    talk   to 
God  as  to  a  companion,  in  prayer  and  praise,  and 
our  communion   is  joy."     That    is    rehgion,  and 
prayer  is  the  heart  of  it.     It  is  not  a  matter  of 
times  and  places.     Wherever  we  go  we  are  with 
God.     Whatever  we    are    doing,   our  hearts    are 
oing  out  to  Him. 


gv^iij^ 


"  Prayer  is  the  Christian's  vital  breath. 
The  Christian's  native  air." 

God  is  our  Father  and  we  are  His  children. 
We  can  easily  think  of  the  child  of  a  good,  noble, 
and  loving  father,  who  is  entirely  out  of  relations 
with  that  father.  One  was  telling  of  a  young 
man  who  has  not  spoken  to  his  father  for   five 


PRAYER  IN  THE  CHRISTIAN  LIFE  47 

years.  He  is  estranged  from  him.  The  father  is 
a  most  worthy  man — the  fault  is  not  his.  He  has 
a  heart  of  love — he  loves  his  estranged  son  and 
longs  to  give  him  back  his  place  of  confidence 
and  honor.  But  all  these  years  the  son  has  lived 
as  if  he  had  no  father  in  the  world. 

God  is  our  Father,  with  infinite  love  in  His 
heart  for  us,  ready  and  eager  to  help  us  and  bless 
us  in  every  way.  We  can  cut  ourselves  off  from 
Him  if  we  will.  Religion,  faith,  is  putting  our- 
selves in  the  children's  place  toward  God.  We 
do  not  then  pray  to  make  God  willing  to  give 
good  things  to  us — He  is  always  willing  to  give. 
The  Master  said :  "  If  ye  then,  being  evil,  know 
how  to  give  good  gifts  unto  your  children,  how 
much  more  shall  your  Father  who  is  in  heaven 
give  good  things  to  them  that  ask  Him?"  Prayer 
then  is  going  to  God,  believing  in  His  love  for 
us,  knowing  that  He  wants  to  help  us,  and  asking 
Him  as  children  ask  their  parents  for  the  things 
we  need. 

The  true  child  has  always  the  child's  place  in 
the  home.  He  is  not  granted  the  privileges  of  a 
child  only  on  certain  days  or  at  certain  hours. 
To  pray  without  ceasing  is  to  be  always  in  happy 
relations  of  love  with  our  Father.  One  tells  this 
pleasant  incident : — 


48  OUR  NEW  EDENS 

*'  My  little  girl  to-night  with  childish  glee, 

Although  her  months  have  numbered  not  two  score, 

Escaped  her  nurse,  and  at  my  study  door. 

With  tiny  fingers  rapping,  spoke  to  me. 

Though  faint  her  words,  I  heard  them  tremblingly 

Fall  from  her  lips,  as  if  the  darkness  bore 

Its  weight  upon  her.     '  Father's  child  ! '    No  more 

I  waited  for,  but  straightway  willingly 

I  brought  the  sweet  intruder  into  light, 

With  happy  laughter. ' ' 

If  we  always  keep  ourselves  in  the  relation  of 
children  to  God — loving,  obedient,  trustful,  sub- 
missive to  His  will — we  shall  really  pray  without 
ceasing.  Every  act  will  then  be  a  prayer.  Every 
word  will  be  a  song  of  praise.  All  we  do  will 
then  be  reverent  worship. 

Again,  to  pray  without  ceasing  is  to  do  every- 
thing with  prayer.  This  does  not  mean  that 
every  piece  of  work  we  undertake  must  be  begun 
with  a  formal  act  of  prayer — stopping,  kneeling 
down,  and  offering  a  spoken  petition.  To  pray 
without  ceasing  is  to  have  the  heart  always  in 
converse  with  God.  It  is  to  live  so  near  to  God 
that  we  can  talk  with  Him  wherever  we  go,  ask 
Him  questions  and  get  His  answers,  seek  His 
help,  His  wisdom,  His  guidance,  and  obtain  what 
we  ask. 

There  is  no  habit  that  we  should  more  sedu- 


PRAYER  IN  THE  CHRISTIAN  LIFE  49 

lously  form  than  that  of  talking  with  God  about 
everything  we  do.  We  are  often  told  that  we 
should  begin  every  day  with  prayer.  That  is 
very  fit  and  beautiful.  The  first  face  our  eyes  see 
in  the  morning  should  be  Christ's.  His  too 
should  be  the  first  voice  we  hear,  and  to  Him  our 
first  words  should  be  spoken.  Henry  Drum- 
mond  tells  us  that  ten  minutes  in  the  morning, 
yes,  two  minutes,  spent  really  with  Christ,  will 
change  all  our  day  for  us.  A  day  without  prayer 
is  a  day  of  darkness  and  sadness. 

It  is  often  said  that  we  should  count  that  day 
lost  in  which  no  kindness  is  done,  no  deed  of  love 
to  any  one,  no  help  given.  But  sadder  far  is  a 
day  without  prayer.  It  is  a  day  without  God, 
without  heaven's  light  shining  into  it,  a  day  un- 
blessed. The  morning  you  forget  to  pray  is  an 
unhappy  morning  for  you.  One  writes  thus  of  a 
prayerless  day : — 

"The  sunlight  streaming  o'er  my  temple  gate 
With  ray  beguiling,  soft  and  fair, 
Made  me  at  dawn  neglect  until  too  late 
To  bar  it  with  the  wonted  prayer. 

**  Two  fair-clad  robbers,  Duty  and  Delight, 
Won  entrance  and  engaged  my  mind, 
While  dark,  unnoticed,  and  in  rags  bedight 
Worry  and  Folly  crept  up  behind. 

4 


50  OUR  NEW  EDENS 

"To-night  there's  ruin  in  my  Holy  Place, 
Its  vessels  gone,  its  treasures  spent — 
Contentment,  faith,  and  every  hard-won  grace 
Displaced  and  spoiled — Lord,  I  repent." 

But  besides  beginning  each  day  with  prayer,  we 
may  do  each  several  act  all  the  day  with  prayer. 
We  may  form  the  habit  of  praying  at  every  step 
as  we  go  along.  That  was  part  of  St.  Paul's 
meaning  when  he  said,  "  Whatsoever  ye  do,  in 
word  or  in  deed,  do  all  in  the  name  of  the  Lord 
Jesus."  He  would  have  us  include  every  word 
we  speak  as  well  as  every  deed  we  do.  Think 
what  it  would  mean  to  have  every  word  that 
passes  our  lips  winged  and  blessed  with  prayer^ — 
always  to  breathe  a  little  prayer  before  we  speak, 
as  we  speak.  This  would  put  heavenly  sweetness 
into  all  our  speech.  It  would  make  all  our  words 
kindly,  loving,  inspiring  words,  words  that  will 
edify  and  minister  grace  to  them  that  hear.  We 
can  scarcely  think  of  one  using  bitter  words,  back- 
biting words,  unholy  words,  if  his  heart  be  always 
full  of  prayer,  if  he  have  trained  himself  to  pray 
always  before  he  speaks. 

But  we  are  to  do  all  our  deeds,  too,  in  the 
name  of  the  Lord  Jesus.  That  means  that  we 
should  do  everything  for  Him,  to  please  Him. 
If  we  could  get  this  lesson  learned,  if  we  would 


PRAYER  IN  THE  CHRISTIAN  LIFE  51 

really  pray  without  ceasing,  how  beautiful  our 
lives  would  be !  How  well  we  should  do  all  our 
work !  Only  think  of  a  man  in  business  doing 
all  his  day's  business  in  a  spirit  of  prayer — breath- 
ing a  little  prayer  as  he  makes  a  bargain,  as  he 
writes  a  business  letter,  as  he  talks  with  other 
men.  Think  of  a  woman  amid  her  household 
cares  taking  everything  to  God  for  His  blessing, 
for  His  approval,  for  His  direction.  These  are 
not  by  any  means  impossible  suppositions.  In- 
deed, this  is  the  way  a  Christian  is  to  live,  should 
always  live — doing  all  in  the  name  of  the  Lord. 
Jesus. 

We  are  exhorted  elsewhere,  too,  to  make  all 
our  requests  known  to  God  in  prayer.  We  do 
not  know  what  we  miss  by  leaving  God  out  of  so 
much  of  our  life.  We  wonder  often  why  we  fail, 
why  so  little  comes  of  our  efforts,  why  we  do  not 
get  along  better  with  people,  why  we  are  not 
happy,  why  joy  is  so  wanting  in  our  experience, 
why  we  are  so  easily  fretted  and  vexed  and  made 
discontented,  why  we  fall  so  easily  into  surliness 
and  bad  temper.     It  is  because  we  cease  to  pray. 

"  O  what  peace  we  often  forfeit, 
O  what  needless  pain  we  bear, 
All  because  we  do  not  carry 
Everything  to  God  in  prayer." 


52  OUR  NEW  EDENS 

You  say  you  haven't  time  to  pray  so  much. 
"  Haven't  time  ?  "  You  have  time  for  everything 
else — time  for  many  things,  perhaps,  of  question- 
able importance.  Have  you  not  time  to  look  into 
God's  face  for  a  moment  before  you  begin  a  new- 
piece  6f  work,  before  you  make  a  new  investment, 
before  you  start  on  a  business  trip,  before  you  go 
out  to  spend  an  evening,  before  you  open  a  new 
book  ?  "  Haven't  time  ?  "  Does  it  seem  wasted 
time  when  you  stop  to  eat  your  meals  ?  Do  you 
regard  your  hours  spent  in  sleep  as  lost  hours  ? 
Does  being  courteous  waste  time  ?  Nor  is  time 
spent  in  getting  God's  blessing  ever  lost  time. 
The  Sabbath  hours  given  to  worship  are  not 
wasted  hours. 

But  really  the  habit  of  unceasing  prayer  does 
not  require  time.  It  is  but  looking  into  God's 
face  and  saying,  "  Help  me  in  this."  "  Bless  me 
as  I  do  this." 

Francis  of  Assisi  was  mighty  in  prayer.  God's 
blessing  seemed  to  be  on  everything  he  did,  on 
every  word  he  spoke.  One  who  loved  him 
desired  to  learn  the  secret  of  his  devotions,  and 
watched  him  to  see  how  he  prayed.  All  he  saw 
was  this — again  and  again  Francis  was  heard 
saying,  with  bowed  head  and  clasped  hands,  the 
name  of  Jesus — "  Jesus  !    Jesus  !  "     That  was  the 


PRAYER  IN  THE  CHRISTIAN  LIFE  53 

way  he  prayed.  He  did  everything  in  that  blessed 
name,  and  all  the  power  of  Jesus  was  in  what  he 
did.  It  wastes  no  time  to  speak  that  name  as  we 
enter  a  new  path,  or  begin  a  new  task,  or  go  out 
to  a  new  duty.  Yet  that  is  what  it  is  to  pray 
without  ceasing. 

It  is  well  for  us  to  learn  this  lesson — to  take 
everything  to  God  in  prayer,  to  pray  as  we  go 
from  task  to  task — always  silently,  unostenta- 
tiously. We  need  to  guard  against  making  a 
show  of  our  praying,  talking  about  it.  But  we 
may  form  the  habit  of  putting  up  little  word- 
prayers  continually.  When  you  feel  an  inclina- 
tion to  speak  bitterly,  to  answer  sharply ;  when 
you  have  been  stung  by  another's  speech  or  act ; 
when  you  are  tempted  to  refuse  a  request  for 
help,  to  do  some  selfish  thing,  to  pass  by  a  human 
need,  to  speak  an  untruth,  lift  up  your  heart  in 
the  prayer,  "  Jesus,  help  me  to  do  thy  will."  Or 
if  you  meet  a  sudden  temptation  and  are  in  danger 
of  being  swept  away,  look  up  and  cry,  "  Jesus, 
save  me ! " 

Do  you  suppose  that  God  is  far  off  from  you 
these  days,  any  day  ?  Do  you  suppose  that 
Christ  ever  leaves  you  alone  for  an  instant,  any- 
where you  may  chance  to  be  ?  No,  no ;  He  is 
nearer  to  you   all  the  time   than   your   dearest, 


54  OUR  NEW  EDENS 

nearest  friend,  now  close  by  your  side.  Believe 
this,  and  when  you  feel  any  need,  any  heart 
hunger,  any  sense  of  loneliness,  the  creeping  over 
you  of  any  shadow  of  danger,  the  coming  upon 
you  of  any  enemy ;  when  you  fear  you  will  fall, 
or  stumble,  or  say  some  word  you  would  not  say, 
or  let  some  feeling  into  your  heart  you  would  not 
admit  there ;  if  you  are  growing  discontented  or 
discouraged,  speak  His  name.  That  will  be 
prayer  enough. 

It  is  impossible  to  tell  of  the  blessing  of  such  a 
spirit  and  habit  of  prayer.  Those  who  have  not 
learned  to  pray  thus  "  without  ceasing  "  have  no 
conception  of  what  they  are  missing.  If  we  all 
had  learned  this  lesson,  what  a  company  of  over- 
coming Christians  we  would  be !  The  world 
would  have  little  power  over  us.  We  would 
tread  it  under  our  feet.  We  would  be  strong 
where  now  we  are  so  weak.  We  would  be  vic- 
torious over  temptation,  where  now  we  fail  so 
sadly.  If  you  knew  that  Christ  was  always  actu- 
ally walking  with  you,  how  strong  you  would  be ! 

"Why,  therefore,  should  we  do  ourselves  this  wrong, 
Or  others — that  we  are  not  always  strong, 

That  we  are  ever  overborne  with  care, 
That  we  should  ever  weak  or  heartless  be, 

Anxious  or  troubled,  when  with  us  is  prayer, 
And  joy  and  strength  and  courage  are  with  Thee?  " 


PRAYER  IN  THE  CHRISTIAN  LIFE  55 

Some  people  seem  to  think  that  all  prayer  is 
request,  asking  favors  from  God.  They  never  go 
to  God  unless  they  want  Him  to  give  them  some- 
thing, to  do  something  for  them,  or  to  get  them 
out  of  some  trouble  or  danger.  But  if  we  pray 
only  when  we  have  a  favor  to  ask,  we  do  not  love 
God  as  we  should.  Really,  request  is  but  a  small 
portion  of  truest  praying. 

You  have  a  dear  human  friend  whom  you  love 
very  much.  You  greatly  enjoy  being  with  this 
friend.  You  say  it  strengthens  you,  cheers  you, 
helps  you,  to  spend  an  hour  with  him.  Now 
when  you  are  with  this  friend,  what  do  you  talk 
about  ?  Do  you  do  nothing  but  make  requests 
and  ask  favors,  and  beg  your  friend  to  do  things 
for  you  ?  I  am  quite  sure  that  is  not  all  you  do. 
Ofttimes  you  pass  the  whole  hour  that  you  are 
together  and  do  not  make  one  request  nor  ask 
one  favor.  You  commune — that  is  the  word. 
You  sit  together,  your  friend  and  you,  and  talk 
of  many  things  that  are  dear  to  you  both.  Then 
sometimes  you  do  not  talk  at  all.  It  is  just 
enough  to  be  with  your  friend,  to  have  his  pres- 
ence near  you,  to  look  into  his  face,  to  know  that 
he  loves  you.  It  strengthens  you  just  to  be  with 
him. 

The  same  is  true  of  communion  with  Christ. 


56  OUR  NEW  EDENS 

It  is  not  all  request.  We  come  to  Him  many 
times  with  no  definite  favor  to  ask.  We  want 
just  to  be  with  Him,  to  look  into  His  face,  to  sit 
in  the  sweet  atmosphere  of  His  presence,  to  let 
His  love  pour  into  our  hearts : — 

**  It  is  not  prayer — 

This  clamor  of  our  eager  wants 
That  fills  the  air 

With  wearying,  selfish  plaints. 

**  It  is  true  prayer 

To  seek  the  Giver  more  than  gift ; 
God's  life  to  share, 

And  love — for  this  our  cry  to  lift." 

There  is  no  lesson  we  need  to  take  more  to 
heart  than  this  lesson  of  prayer.  This  is  not  a 
praying  age.  Every  call  is  to  work,  to  activity. 
We  are  hving  in  most  strenuous  times.  The 
pressure  of  active  duty  is  tremendous.  In  all 
departments  of  life  this  is  true.  Men  have  little 
time  for  leisure.  In  the  church,  too,  the  call  is  to 
activity.  The  cry  is  for  the  evangelizing  of  the 
world.  It  is  a  missionary  age  in  which  we  are 
living.  Christians  hear  but  Httle  about  the  duty 
of  meditation,  of  devotion,  of  prayer — they  are 
called  rather  out  into  the  field  to  work,  to  hasten 
the  coming  of  the  kingdom. 

This  is  well.     Every  redeemed  life  should  be 


PRAYER  IN  THE  CHRISTIAN  LIFE  57 

consecrated  to  service.  But  there  is  danger  in 
this  intense  activity.  The  danger  is  not  that  we 
become  too  strenuous  in  carrying  the  gospel  to 
men — this  never  could  be — but  that  we  get  too 
little  quiet  in  our  lives  for  the  cultivation  of  our 
own  heart  piety.  There  must  be  root  before 
there  can  be  strong  branches  and  much  fruit 
We  must  sit  at  Christ's  feet  to  be  fed  before  we 
can  go  out  to  feed  others.  Not  a  word  should  be 
said  to  restrain  earnestness,  to  check  enthusiasm 
in  Christ's  work,  to  hold  any  one  back  from  the 
service  of  Christ.  But  in  our  much  serving  and 
work  we  should  never  forget  the  necessity  of 
Bible  reading  and  communion  with  Christ,  to 
prepare  us  for  the  noble  work  we  are  striving  to 
do.  All  the  best  things  of  Christian  life  are  the 
fruit  of  silent  meditation. 

Life  is  not  easy  for  any  of  us.  We  can  live 
grandly,  purely,  Christianly,  only  by  being  much 
with  Christ.  We  will  rob  ourselves  of  Divine 
blessing,  of  beauty  of  character,  of  power  in  ser- 
vice, if  we  fail  to  make  room  in  all  our  busy  days 
for  quiet  retreats  from  noise  and  strife,  where  we 
may  sit  at  Christ's  feet  to  hear  His  words  and  lie 
on  His  bosom  that  we  may  absorb  His  spirit,  to 
prepare  us  for  the  toil  and  the  witnessing. 

Father  Ryan,  a  Roman  Catholic  poet-priest  of 


58  OUR  NEW  EDENS 

the     South,    writes     thus    of    "  the     valley    of 
silence  " : — 

In  the  hush  of  the  valley  of  silence 

I  dream  all  the  songs  that  I  sing  ; 
And  the  music  floats  down  the  dim  valley 

Till  each  finds  a  word  for  a  wing, 
That  to  hearts,  like  the  dove  of  the  deluge, 

A  message  of  peace  they  may  bring. 

But  far  out  on  the  deep  there  are  billows 
That  never  shall  break  on  the  beach  ; 

And  I  have  heard  songs  in  the  silence 
That  never  shall  float  into  speech  ; 

And  I  have  had  dreams  in  the  valley 
Too  lofty  for  language  to  reach. 

And  I  have  seen  thoughts  in  the  valley — 
Ah,  me,  how  my  spirit  was  stirred  ! 

And  they  wear  holy  veils  on  their  faces  ; 
Their  footsteps  can  scarcely  be  heard  : 

They  pass  through  the  valley  like  virgins 
Too  pure  for  the  touch  of  a  word. 

Do  you  ask  me  the  place  of  the  valley. 
Ye  hearts  that  are  harrowed  by  care  ? 

It  lieth  afar  between  mountains, 

And  God  and  His  angels  are  there  : 

One  is  the  dark  mountain  of  sorrow. 
And  one  the  bright  mountain  of  prayer. 

It  is  only  in  the  "  valley  of  silence  "  with  Christ 
that  we  can  dream  the  dreams  and  see  the  visions 


PRAYER  IN  THE  CHRISTIAN  LIFE  59 

which  we  would  translate  into  noble  life,  Christly 
character,  and  worthy  deed,  out  among  men. 
We  must  hide  away  much  in  prayer  if  we  would 
get  strength  for  valiant  struggle  and  effective  ser- 
vice for  our  Master. 


IV 
A   PARABLE   OF   GROWTH 


"  I  will  be  as  the  dew  unto  Israel ;  he  shall  blossom  as  the 
lily,  and  cast  forth  his  roots  as  Lebanon.  His  branches  shall 
spread,  and  his  beauty  shall  be  as  the  olive  tree,  and  his  smell 
as  Lebanon." — Hosea  xiv.  5,  6. 

*'  God's  Spirit  falls  on  thee  as  dewdrops  on  a  rose, 
If  but  like  a  rose  to  Him  thy  heart  unclose." 

"  Dear  God  !  Let  me  grow  from  day  to  day, 
Clinging  and  sunny  and  bright ! 
Though  planted  in  shade,  Thy  window  is  near, 
And  my  leaves  may  turn  to  the  light." 


IV 

A  PARABLE  OF  GROWTH 

God's  forgiveness  is  wonderful.  If  we  fail,  He 
gives  us  another  chance.  Even  the  saddest  ruin 
of  a  life  may  be  built  into  a  holy  temple  of  God. 
We  have  it  all  in  a  chapter  in  Hosea.  We  have 
the  Divine  pleading :  "  O  Israel,  return  unto 
Jehovah  thy  God ;  for  thou  hast  fallen  by  thine 
iniquity."  Then  the  way  back  is  marked  out — 
confession,  repentance,  consecration.  Then  comes 
the  assurance :  "  I  will  heal  their  backsliding,  I 
will  love  them  freely;  for  Mine  anger  is  turned 
away."  Then  follows  this  wonderful  promise  of 
restoration  and  prosperity  :  "  I  will  be  as  the  dew 
unto  Israel ;  he  shall  blossom  as  the  lily,  and  cast 
forth  his  roots  as  Lebanon.  His  branches  shall 
spread,  and  his  beauty  shall  be  as  the  olive  tree, 
and  his  smell  as  Lebanon." 

It  is  a  picture  of  beauty  and  fruitfulness.  There 
had  been  bareness  and  desolation.  Sin  is  drought. 
It  causes  blight.  Every  flower  fades  and  every 
green  thing  withers.     But  God's  love  is  hke  rain. 

63 


64  OUR  NEW  EDENS 

It  falls  on  the  parched  life  and  changes  it  to  gar- 
den loveliness. 

The  prophet's  words  contain  a  parable  of  spirit- 
ual growth.  We  may  note  some  of  the  features, 
for  they  belong  to  all  true  Christian  life. 

One  of  these  qualities  is  purity.  "  He  shall 
blossom  as  the  lily."  The  other  day  a  friend 
sent  me  half  a  dozen  white  lilies,  and  all  the  days 
since  they  have  kept  their  freshness  and  their 
unblemished  whiteness.  They  have  preached 
their  Httle  sermon  to  every  one  who  has  come  in, 
saying,  "  Blessed  are  the  pure  in  heart :  for  they 
shall  see  God."  Have  you  ever  noticed  how 
earnestly  this  lesson  of  purity  is  taught  in  the 
Bible?  Thus  in  one  of  the  Psalms  we  have  the 
question  and  the  answer:  "Who  shall  ascend 
into  the  hill  of  Jehovah  ?  and  who  shall  stand  in 
His  holy  place?  He  that  hath  clean  hands,  and  a 
pure  heart." 

Then  James  tells  us  that  we  are  to  have  "  pure 
religion  and  undefiled  before  our  God  and 
Father."  He  tells  us  also  that  we  are  to  keep 
ourselves  "  unspotted  from  the  world."  We  are 
not  to  flee  away  from  the  world,  for  our  duty  is 
in  it,  and  we  must  be  in  it  to  bless  it,  to  do  good 
in  it,  to  be  light  in  its  darkness,  to  comfort  its 
sorrow ;  but  while  in  the  world  we  are  not  to  be- 


A  PARABLE  OF  GROWTH  65 

come  stained  by  its  sin  or  to  have  our  garments 
soiled  by  its  evil.  Some  one  tells  of  seeing  an 
enameled  plant  growing  on  the  edge  of  a  coal 
mine.  Though  the  black  dust  floated  about  it 
continually,  not  a  particle  of  it  adhered  to  the 
plant,  and  its  snowy  w^hiteness  took  no  stain. 
This  illustrates  the  purity  which  should  always 
be  found  in  the  Christian  life — in  the  world,  but 
unspotted  by  its  evil.  That  is  the  way  the  Mas- 
ter passed  through  this  world.  That  is  the  way 
He  would  have  us  go  through  it. 

Something  else  is  necessary,  however — more 
than  our  own  good  resolve — if  our  hearts  and 
lives  are  to  be  like  the  lily  in  its  immaculate 
whiteness.  We  need  both  Divine  cleansing  and 
Divine  keeping.  The  Rev.  F.  B.  Meyer  tells  of 
calling  one  day,  in  his  pastoral  rounds,  on  a 
washerwoman  whom  he  found  hanging  the  last 
of  her  day's  washing  on  the  line.  During  his 
brief  stay  in  her  house  there  came  a  thick  and 
sudden  fall  of  snow.  When  he  came  out  the 
ground  was  white.  "  Your  clothes  do  not  look 
as  white  as  they  did  when  I  came  in,"  Mr.  Meyer 
remarked.  "  The  clothes  are  just  the  same,"  the 
woman  answered,  "  but  what  can  stand  against 
God's  perfect  white  ?  "  Compared  with  the  snow, 
the  whitest  garments  look  soiled  and  dingy.  We 
S 


66  OUR  NEW  EDENS 

think  we  are  reasonably  pure  and  good,  but  when 
we  stand  beside  the  holy  Christ  we  see  that  we 
are  unholy  and  unworthy  and  need  cleansing. 
We  must  pray  the  prayer,  "  Wash  me,  and  I 
shall  be  whiter  than  snow."  Only  Christ  can 
cleanse  us.  Only  He  can  keep  us  pure  and  clean. 
Purity  is  one  of  the  qualities  of  the  ideal 
Christian  life. 

Another  quality  of  a  true  spiritual  life  is 
root.  "  He  shall  .  .  .  cast  forth  his  roots  as 
Lebanon."  Probably  the  reference  is  to  the 
cedars  of  Lebanon.  Lilies  are  pure  and  gentle, 
but  they  are  very  frail,  with  shallow  rooting, 
easily  torn  out  of  the  ground.  No  one  simile 
tells  all  the  story  of  a  noble  and  worthy  life. 
The  cedar  sends  its  roots  down  deep  into  the 
earth,  anchoring  it  so  securely  that  the  wildest 
storm  cannot  tear  it  loose.  Purity  is  essential  in 
a  Christian  life.  Gentleness  and  delicacy  are  un- 
failing characteristics  of  a  Christhke  spirit.  But 
there  must  also  be  strength.  It  is  never  easy  to 
live  well  in  this  world.  We  cannot  hope  to  be 
kept  always  in  a  shelter  of  tender  love,  where  no, 
storm  beats,  where  there  are  no  struggles.  Jesus 
Christ,  God's  best  beloved  Son,  faced  the  most 
terrible  temptations.  His  life  was  exposed  to  all 
manner  of  trials.     No  follower  of  His  can  pass 


A  PARABLE  OF  GROWTH  67 

through  hfe  and  miss  antagonism.  There  must 
be  strength  to  withstand  the  tempest  as  well  as 
purity  to  look  into  God's  face.  Roots  are  import- 
ant as  well  as  whiteness.  The  trees  that  grow  on 
the  mountains  are  deeply  and  strongly  rooted. 
So  if  we  would  stand  true,  steadfast,  unmovable, 
as  we  are  bidden  to  stand,  we  must  be  anchored 
by  an  unwavering  faith  in  Christ. 

The  root  is  not  the  part  of  the  tree  we  admire 
the  most.  Indeed,  it  is  not  seen  at  all.  No  one 
praises  it.  It  creeps  down  into  the  dark  earth 
and  is  hidden.  But  we  know  its  importance.  It 
feeds  the  tree's  life  and  then  it  holds  the  tree  in 
its  place  amid  the  storms.  Every  strong  char- 
acter must  have  a  deep  root.  Shallow  rooting 
means  a  feeble  power  of  resistance.  Because  it 
lacked  root,  the  seed  sown  on  rocky  ground 
withered  away  in  the  first  hot  sun.  We  must  be 
deeply  rooted  in  Christ  if  we  would  endure  unto 
the  end. 

It  takes  both  the  gentleness  of  the  lily  and  the 
strength  of  the  cedar  to  make  a  true  Christian 
character.  Gentleness  without  strength  is  not 
noble — it  is  weakness.  Strength  without  gentle- 
ness is  not  great — it  is  only  brute  force.  But 
sweetness  and  strength  combined  yield  heroic 
manhood.     Such    a   man    was    Luther.     Such   a 


68  OUR  NEW  EDENS 

man  was  Cromwell.  "  Kiss  mc,  Hardy,"  said 
Lord  Nelson,  dying.  Such  a  man  was  Jesus 
Christ. 

Another  quality  in  the  beautiful  life  is  breadth. 
"  His  branches  shall  spread."  If  there  be  strength 
with  deep  rooting,  there  will  also  be  the  extending 
of  boughs.  Life  broadens  as  it  grows.  We  all 
begin  as  babies,  but  we  ought  not  to  continue 
babies.  We  ought  to  grow  into  men,  putting 
away  childish  things.  Some  people,  however, 
seem  never  to  advance  in  spiritual  life. 

One  of  the  strange  freaks  of  Japanese  horticul- 
ture is  the  cultivation  of  dwarf  trees.  The  Japan- 
ese grow  forest  giants  in  flowerpots.  Some  of 
these  strange  miniature  trees  are  a  century  old, 
and  are  only  two  or  three  feet  high.  The  gar- 
dener, instead  of  trying  to  get  them  to  grow  to 
their  best,  takes  infinite  pains  to  keep  them  little. 
His  purpose  is  to  grow  dwarfs,  not  giant  trees. 
From  the  time  of  their  planting  they  are  re- 
pressed, starved,  crippled,  stunted.  When  buds 
appear,  they  are  nipped  off.  So  the  tree  remains 
only  a  dwarf  all  its  life. 

Some  Christian  people  seem  to  do  the  same 
thing  with  their  lives.  They  do  not  allow  them- 
selves to  grow.  They  rob  themselves  of  spiritual 
nourishment,  restrain  the  noble  impulses  of  their 


A  PARABLE  OF  GROWTH  69 

nature,  shut  out  of  their  hearts  the  power  of  the 
Holy  Spirit,  and  are  only  dwarf  Christians  when 
they  might  be  strong  in  Christ  Jesus,  with  the 
abundant  life  which  the  Master  wants  all  His 
followers  to  have. 

There  is  not  enough  breadth  in  many  hves. 
We  ought  to  grow  in  height,  reaching  up  to  the 
fullness  of  the  stature  of  Christ.  We  ought  to 
grow  in  the  outreach  of  our  lives.  We  ought  to 
know  more  of  God  and  of  heavenly  things  to- 
morrow than  we  do  to-day.  We  are  told  that  if 
we  follow  on  we  sh^ll  know,  that  if  we  do  the 
little  portion  of  the  will  of  God  we  understand 
we  shall  be  led  on  to  see  and  know  more  of  that 
will.  We  ought  to  grow  in  love  also,  becoming 
more  patient,  more  gentle,  more  thoughtful,  more 
unselfish  day  by  day,  extending  the  reach  of  our 
unselfishness  and  helpfulness. 

There  is  something  else  about  these  spreading 
branches.  A  little  farther  down  in  the  chapter 
we  read  this :  "They  that  dwell  under  his  shadow 
shall  return."  The  children  of  men  find  shelter 
and  rest  under  the  shadow  of  the  good  man's 
wide-spreading  life.  We  all  know  people  of  whom 
that  is  true — others  come  and  live  beneath  the 
shadow  of  their  love,  their  strength,  their  be- 
neficence.    They  live  to  serve  others,  not  to  be 


70  OUR  NEW  EDENS 

served  by  others.  They  seek  always  to  do  good 
to  every  one  they  meet.  Their  doors  are  ever 
open  to  those  who  come  needing  counsel,  cheer, 
help,  and  hope.  They  are  an  unspeakable  bless- 
ing and  comfort  in  the  world.  Their  lives  are  like 
trees  which  cast  a  wide  shade  in  which  children 
play,  beneath  which  the  weary  stop  in  their  jour- 
ney to  rest.  Some  verses  by  Alice  W.  Bailey  ^  fit 
in  here : — 

I  know  a  nature  like  a  tree  ; 

Men  seek  its  shade  instinctively. 

It  is  a  choir  for  singing  birds, 

A  covert  for  the  flocks  and  herds. 

It  grows  and  grows,  nor  questions  why, 

But  reaches  up  into  the  sky, 

And  stretches  down  into  the  soil. 

Finding  no  trouble  in  its  toil. 

It  flaunts  no  scar  to  tell  of  pain. 

Self-healed  its  wounds  have  closed  again 

Unaided  by  its  pensioners ; 

And  yet  I  know  that  great  heart  stirs 

To  each  appeal  and  claim,  indeed 

Leans  to  their  lack  and  needs  their  need. 

There  is  something  very  admirable  in  the  beauty 
of  such  a  life  as  this  picture  suggests — a  tree 
putting  out  its  branches  to  make  grateful  shade 
and  shelter  for  earth's  hunted  ones,  hungry  ones, 
weary  ones,  sorrowing  ones.     Too  many  people 

^  The  Outlook,  June  27,  1903. 


A  PARABLE  OF  GROWTH  71 

seek  to  broaden  their  lives  only  to  gather  the 
more  into  their  grasp  for  their  own  selfish  ends — 
not  to  bless  the  world,  but  to  gain  the  world  for 
their  own  enriching.  Others  there  are  who  seek 
to  draw  people  to  them,  but  whose  branches  do 
not  make  a  safe  and  wholesome  shelter  for  the 
weary  and  the  troubled,  but  rather  a  poisoned 
and  perilous  shadow  in  which  the  innocent  are 
harmed  or  even  ruined.  We  who  are  Christians 
should  be  like  trees  of  blessing,  under  which 
others  may  come,  sure  of  finding  only  comfort 
and  good. 

Another  of  the  qualities  of  the  spiritual  life 
suggested  here  is  beauty.  "  His  beauty  shall  be 
as  the  olive  tree."  Beauty  is  a  quality  of  the 
complete  Christian  life.  Writers  note  the  fact 
that  the  beauty  of  the  olive  is  peculiar.  There 
are  other  trees  which  are  more  brilliant,  more 
graceful  in  form.  "  The  palm  at  once  impresses 
by  its  elegance,  the  apple  tree  by  its  blossoms,  the 
orange  by  its  golden  fruit  and  unique  fragrance, 
the  tulip  tree  by  its  gorgeous  flowers.  The  olive, 
however,  is  by  no  means  picturesque — it  often 
looks  even  stunted  and  shabby.  .  .  .  But  the  soft 
delicate  beauty  grows  upon  you  until,  stirred  by 
the  wind,  the  shimmering  silver  of  its  leaves  makes 
a  picture.  ...  So  Christian  character  is  often  not 


72  OUR  NEW  EDENS 

in  the  least  brilliant,  'heroic,  or  striking.  The 
noblest  men  and  women  are  modest,  homely, 
simple  souls ;  yet  they  reveal  a  mild  and  serious 
grace  which  is,  in  truth,  the  perfection  of  beauty."^ 

Thus  the  olive  tree  becomes  a  true  symbol  of 
Christlike  character — not  showy,  not  flashing  its 
brilliance  in  the  eyes  of  men,  but  humble,  quiet, 
adorned  with  the  beauty  which  pleases  Christ. 
Peter  has  some  good  words  about  true  adorning 
for  women  :  "  Whose  adorning  let  it  not  be  the 
outward  adorning  of  braiding  the  hair,  and  of 
wearing  jewels  of  gold,  or  of  putting  on  apparel ; 
but  let  it  be  the  hidden  man  of  the  heart,  in  the 
incorruptible  apparel  of  a  meek  and  quiet  spirit, 
which  is  in  the  sight  of  God  of  great  price." 

There  is  a  clause  in  Saint  Paul's  cluster  of 
"  whatsoevers "  which  make  up  his  picture  of 
noble.  Christlike  character  that  fits  in  here — 
"  whatsoever  things  are  lovely."  We  must  never 
leave  out  the  things  that  are  lovely  when  we  are 
making  up  our  ideal  of  spiritual  life.  There 
are  unlovely  things  in  the  dispositions  of  too 
many  people.  We  who  arc  Christians  should 
seek  always  to  be  rid  of  whatsoever  is  not  beau- 
tiful. Our  daily  prayer  should  be,  "  Let  the 
beauty  of  the  Lord  our  God  be  upon  us." 

1  The  Rev.  W.  I..  Watkinson. 


A  PARABLE  OF  GROWTH  73 

Saint  Paul  told  Timothy  that  the  word  of  God 
is  "  profitable  for  teaching,  for  reproof,  for  correc- 
tion." We  know  what  correction  is.  Young 
people  at  school  write  exercises,  and  their  teach- 
ers go  over  them  and  correct  them,  pointing  out 
the  mistakes.  The  Bible,  if  w^e  read  it  as  we 
should,  corrects  our  faulty  essays  in  living,  shows 
us  the  errors  in  our  lives,  the  defects  in  our  char- 
acters, the  flaws  in  our  dispositions.  What  then  ? 
"  Count  that  day  happy,"  says  Ruskin,  "  when 
you  have  discovered  a  fault  in  yourself" — not 
happy  because  the  fault  is  there,  but  because  you 
know  it  now,  that  you  may  cure  it. 

Another  quality  of  a  true  life  suggested  in  this 
parable  of  growth  is  fragrance.  "  His  smell  as 
Lebanon."  "A  good  name  is  better  than  precious 
oil."  Another  of  Saint  Paul's  **  whatsoevers  "  is 
very  suggestive — "  whatsoever  things  are  of  good 
report."  There  is  an  aroma  that  belongs  to  every 
life,  which  is  the  composite  product  of  the  things 
that  are  said  about  the  person.  Some  men  live 
beautifully,  sweetly,  patiently,  unselfishly,  help- 
fully, joyfully,  speaking  only  good  words,  never 
rash,  intemperate,  unloving  words,  and  walking 
among  men  carefully,  humbly,  reverently;  and 
the  odor  of  their  lives  is  like  that  of  Mary's  oint- 
ment.    Other  men  are  ruled  by  self   or  by  the 


74  OUR  NEW  EDENS 

world  or  by  greed — they  are  of  the  earth,  earthy. 
They  are  untruthful,  resentful,  unloving,  of  hasty 
speech — and  we  know  what  the  effluence  of  such 
lives  is. 

There  is  something  very  mysterious  about  per- 
fume. No  one  can  describe  it.  You  cannot  take 
a  photograph  of  it.  Yet  it  is  a  very  essential 
quality  of  the  flower.  The  same  is  true  of  that 
strange  thing  we  call  influence.  Influence  is  the 
aroma  of  a  life.  The  most  important  thing  about 
our  life  is  this  subtle,  imponderable,  indefinable, 
mysterious  element  of  our  personality  which  is 
known  as  influence.  This  is  really  all  of  us  that 
counts  in  our  final  impression  on  other  lives. 

**  His  smell  as  Lebanon."  Lebanon's  gardens 
and  trees  and  fruits  made  delicious  fragrance 
which  filled  all  the  region  round  about.  Every 
Christian  life  ought  to  be  fragrant,  but  there  is 
only  one  way  to  make  it  so.  Men  gather  the 
perfume  from  acres  of  roses  and  it  fills  only  a 
little  phial.  Your  influence,  the  perfume  of  your 
life,  is  gathered  from  all  the  acres  of  your  years — 
all  that  has  grown  upon  those  acres.  If  it  is  to 
be  like  the  essence  of  ten  thousand  roses — sweet, 
pure,  undcfiled,  your  life  must  be  all  well  watched, 
clean,  sweet,  holy,  loving,  true.  Only  roses  must 
grow   on   your   fields.     The  evil   as   well    as  the 


A  PARABLE  OF  GROWTH  75 

good  is  gathered  and  helps  to  make  the  com- 
posite influence  of  your  life. 

We  know  how  easily  one's  influence  is  hurt, 
how  little  follies  and  indiscretions  in  one's  con- 
duct or  behavior  take  away  from  the  sweetness  of 
one's  reputation.  Says  the  author  of  Ecclesiastes, 
''  Dead  flies  cause  the  oil  of  the  perfumer  to  send 
forth  an  evil  odor ;  so  doth  a  little  folly  outweigh 
wisdom  and  honor."  We  need  to  think  seriously 
of  this  matter.  We  are  not  always  careful  enough 
about  keeping  out  the  dead  flies.  There  are 
many  men  who  are  good  in  the  general  tenor  of 
their  lives,  godly,  prayerful,  consistent  in  larger 
ways,  but  the  perfume  of  whose  names  is  rendered 
unsavory  by  little  dead  flies  in  their  common  liv- 
ing. They  are  not  always  careful  to  keep  their 
word;  they  are  not  prompt  in  paying  their  debts ; 
they  are  not  watchful  of  their  speech ;  they  are 
not  loyal  in  their  friendships  ;  they  are  indiscreet 
in  their  relations  with  others;  they  are  wanting 
in  refinement  or  courtesy ;  they  are  resentful — we 
all  know  how  many  of  these  dead  flies  there  are 
which  cause  the  ointment  of  some  people's  names 
to  send  forth  an  unsavory  odor. 

We  need  to  watch  our  lives  in  the  smallest 
matters  if  we  would  keep  our  names  sweet 
wherever  we  are  known.     Influence  is  most  im- 


76  OUR  NEW  EDENS 

portant.  It  is  our  mightiest  force  for  good  or 
evil.  Let  us  keep  it  pure  and  good  for  Christ. 
Let  us  keep  Christ  always  in  it. 

These  are  some  of  the  lessons  which  this  Old 
Testament  nature-parable  suggests.  These  are 
some  of  the  essential  qualities  of  a  true  Christian 
hfe.  It  should  be  pure.  It  should  be  deeply 
rooted  in  Christ  and  strong.  It  should  spread 
out  its  branches  and  become  a  shelter  and  com- 
fort to  other  lives.  It  should  be  beautiful  with 
the  beauty  of  humility,  truth,  and  love.  It 
should  be  fragrant  with  the  aroma  of  a  sweet, 
holy,  and  loving  life. 

Is  the  picture  discouraging  by  reason  of  its 
lofty  qualities?  Is  it  so  high  in  its  excellence 
that  we  seem  unable  to  reach  it?  At  a  recent 
commencement  one  of  the  speakers  told  of  two 
scenes  he  had  witnessed.  The  first  was  this :  He 
was  in  an  artist's  studio  when  the  artist  was 
about  beginning  his  work  on  a  canvas.  He  was 
putting  a  little  daub  of  paint  here,  another  daub 
there.  There  certainly  was  no  semblance  of  any- 
thing beautiful  on  the  canvas.  Indeed,  there 
seemed  no  evidence  of  any  design,  no  trace  of 
any  form  or  figure,  no  clue  to  what  the  artist 
meant  to  do. 

That  was  the  first  scene.    This  was  the  second  : 


A  PARABLE  OF  GROWTH  77 

A  large  company  of  people  standing  before  a 
great  picture,  all  admiring  it  and  praising  its 
beauty.  This  was  the  finished  painting  of  which 
the  artist,  that  day  a  year  or  two  before,  was 
making  the  first  rough  outline. 

Let  us  not  be  discouraged  because  to-day  the" 
picture  has  almost  none  of  the  beauty  which  is 
visioned  in  the  great  ideal  we  have  been  studying. 
We  are  only  beginning  it.  Let  us  continue  at 
our  holy  task  until  in  every  line  it  glows  with  the 
loveliness  of  the  ideal.  But  remember  we  cannot 
dream  the  vision  upon  the  canvas — we  can  put  it 
there  only  by  patient  thought,  effort,  and  disci- 
pline. 

Then  let  us  not  forget  that  God  will  work  with 
us  in  our  efforts  to  grow  into  the  Divine  beauty, 
if  only  we  seek  His  grace  and  help.  There  is  a 
story  of  an  artist-pupil  who  had  wrought  long  at 
his  canvas  and  was  discouraged  because  the  noble 
vision  came  so  slowly,  because  his  hand  seemed 
so  unskillful.  Then  one  day  he  sat  by  his  easel, 
weary  and  disheartened,  and  fell  asleep.  While 
he  slept  his  master  came  and,  taking  the  brush, 
with  a  few  swift  touches  finished  the  picture. 
That  is  the  way  our  Master  does  with  us  when 
we  are  doing  our  best  and  seem  only  to  fail.     He 


78  OUR  NEW  EDENS 

comes  in  the  stillness  and  puts  His  own  hand  to 
our  work  and  completes  it. 

There  is  one  sentence  in  this  parable  of  growth 
which  is  full  of  inspiration  and  hope :  "  I  will  be 
as  the  dew  unto  Israel."  In  the  East  the  dew  is 
almost  like  rain  with  us.  When  there  is  no  dew, 
everything  burns  up.  When  there  is  dew,  the 
thirsty  fields  are  refreshed.  All  the  wonderful 
beauty  described  in  these  words  is  produced  by 
the  night-mist  or  dew. 

Now  God  says,  "  I  will  be  as  the  dew  unto 
Israel."  What  dew  does  for  withering  gardens 
and  fields,  God  says  He  will  do  for  His  people  if 
they  but  repent  and  return  to  Him.  He  does  not 
say  He  will  send  the  dew — He  says  He  will  Him- 
self be  as  the  dew.  So  the  dew  which  renews 
and  refreshes  withered  lives  is  God  Himself.  Let 
us  leani  well  this  great  truth,  that  God  would  put 
Himself  into  our  withered  lives.  That  is  the 
heart  of  our  religion.  We  are  not  set  merely  to 
copy  a  picture  upon  canvas,  to  imitate  a  lovely 
model  held  before  us.  Christianity  tells  us  of  a 
Divine  Spirit  who  with  unseen  hands  comes  to 
fashion  the  picture  upon  our  spirits.  "  I  will  be  as 
the  dew  unto  Israel."  What  the  dew  or  the  rain 
is  to  the  withered  fields,  God's  Spirit  will  be  to 


A  PARABLE  OF  GROWTH  79 

our  bare,  withered  lives.     We  need  only  to  yield 
ourselves  to  this  gentle  Holy  Spirit 

Some  of  us  are  perplexed  to  know  how  we 
ever  can  grow  into  the  purity,  the  strength,  the 
breadth,  the  usefulness,  the  beauty,  the  sweetness 
of  Christ.  Imagine  a  field  after  long  drought,  its 
foliage  drooping,  its  flowers  withering,  everything 
on  it  dying,  perplexed  and  wondering  how  it 
ever  can  grow  into  garden  beauty.  Then  a  cloud 
comes  up  out  of  the  sea  and  pours  its  gentle  rains 
for  hours  upon  the  parched  ground.  The  ques- 
tion is  answered.  All  the  field  has  to  do  is  to 
open  its  bosom  to  the  treasures  of  the  rain.  All 
we  have  to  do  in  our  spiritual  need  is  to  let  God's 
Spirit  into  our  hearts. 

"  Receive  Ilim  as  the  dew  into  thy  heart, 
O  thirsty  one,  who  long  His  grace  hast  sought. 
Dew  forms  in  stillness;  struggle  not,  nor  strive  ; 
What  thou  dost  need  to  learn  is  to  receive. 

"  The  air  surrounding  thee  is  full  of  God, 
With  love  and  life  and  blessing  for  thee  stored  ; 
Get  cool  and  quiet,  and  the  dew  will  fall — 
A  little  at  a  time,  not  once  for  all." 


V 

THE   BEAUTY  OF  QUIETNESS 


"  In  quietness  and  in   confidence  shall  be  your  strength. "- 
Isaiah  xxx.  15. 

"  There  the  dews  of  quiet  fall, 

Singing  birds  and  soft  winds  stray  ; 
Shall  the  tender  Heart  of  all 

Be  less  kind  than  they?  " — J.  G.   Whittier. 


V 

THE  BEAUTY  OF  QUIETNESS 

A  QUIET  life  has  many  points  of  beauty.  It 
has  poise,  the  lack  of  which  is  always  a  serious 
blemish.  It  has  self-mastery,  which  is  kingliness. 
Quietness  is  the  condition  of  receptiveness.  Some 
people  make  so  much  noise  that  they  hear  none 
of  the  great  and  noble  voices  which  are  speaking 
continually  in  their  ears  words  of  wisdom.  Quiet- 
ness favors  thought  and  meditation.  Some  of  us 
never  give  ourselves  time  to  think,  and  hence  we 
never  have  any  words  worth  while  to  speak. 

It  would  seem  that  anybody  could  keep  still 
and  quiet.  We  would  say  that  it  requires  no 
exertion.  It  is  activity  that  is  hard — it  ought  to 
be  easy  to  rest.  It  takes  energy  to  speak — it 
should  be  easy  just  to  be  silent. 

But  we  all  know  that  few  things  are  harder  for 
most  people  than  to  be  still.  Our  lives  are  like 
the  ocean  in  their  restlessness.  They  cannot  be 
comprised  and  confined  within  narrow  limits. 
This  is  one  of  the  proofs  of  our  greatness  and  our 

83 


84  OUR  NEW  EDENS 

immortality.  Life  is  vast  and  ever  in  motion. 
Dead  things  have  no  trouble  in  keeping  still.  A 
stone  is  never  restless.  The  lower  the  quality  of 
*4ife,  the  easier  it  is  for  it  to  be  quiet.  The  human 
soul  was  made  for  God,  and  its  very  greatness 
renders  its  repose  and  quiet  the  most  difficult  of 
all  its  attainments. 

Yet  the  lesson  of  quietness  is  set  for  us  again 
and  again  in  the  Scriptures.  We  are  told  that 
the  effect  of  righteousness  is  quietness.  We  are 
specially  exhorted  to  "  study  to  be  quiet,"  to 
make  it  the  aim  of  our  life  to  be  still ;  to  make  a 
study  of  it  as  something  to  be  learned,  as  one 
would  learn  an  art  or  train  one's  self  in  beauty  of 
living.  In  the  margin  the  language  is  even 
stronger — "  Be  ambitious  to  be  quiet."  Think  of 
human  ambitions — to  be  rich,  to  be  honored,  to 
have  power,  to  do  great  things !  Quietness  must, 
therefore,  be  one  of  the  most  desirable  of  all 
qualities  in  life.  We  are  to  be  ambitious  to  be 
quiet.  Another  saying  of  the  New  Testament  is, 
referring  to  women,  "  The  apparel  of  a  meek  and 
quiet  spirit  is  of  great  price  in  the  sight  of  God." 
Quietness  is  extolled,  too,  as  a  privilege  in  a 
noisy  world.  "  A  dry  morsel  and  quietness 
therewith  is  better  than  a  feast  with  strife  and 
contention." 


THE  BEAUTY  OF  QUIETNESS  85 

Quietness  is  evidently  a  mark  of  high  culture. 
On  the  mountain  the  prophet  saw  the  wild  con- 
vulsions of  nature — the  storm,  the  earthquake, 
and  the  fire — but  in  none  of  these  was  God  mani- 
fested. Then  followed  "  the  voice  of  gentle  still- 
ness," and  that  was  God.  Yet  there  are  many 
people  who  think  that  noise  is  strength,  that 
quietness  lacks  robustness  and  vigor.  They  sup- 
pose the  more  noise  a  speaker  makes,  the  greater 
orator  he  is ;  that  the  louder  one's  voice  in  pray- 
ing, the  more  power  the  man  has  in  prayer.  But 
noise  is  not  eloquence.  Mr.  Beecher  used  to  say 
that  when  he  was  speaking  and  had  no  thoughts, 
nothing  to  say,  he  thundered,  and  the  people 
were  greatly  moved.  The  greatest  preacher  is 
the  one  who  the  most  deeply  impresses  other 
lives,  turning  them  from  sin  to  holiness,  from 
lower  to  higher  things. 

The  common  impression  probably  is  that 
people  who  make  the  most  bluster  and  show  in 
their  callings  are  the  greatest  workers,  accomplish 
the  most,  produce  the  deepest,  best  impressions. 
But  this  is  not  true.  The  best  Christian  workers 
anywhere  are  those  who  make  the  least  noise. 
They  live  deeply,  dwelling  in  the  valley  of  silence. 
We  never  can  do  our  best  anywhere  if  we  have 
not  learned  to  be  quiet. 


86  OUR  NEW  EDENS 

*'  We  mar  our  work  for  God  by  noise  and  bustle  ; 
Can  we  not  do  our  part  and  not  be  heard  ? 
Why  should  we  care  that  men  should  see  us 
With  our  tools,  and  praise  the  skill  with  which  we  use  them  ? 
And  oftentimes  we  chafe,  and  think  it  hard 
That  we  should  lay  our  great  and  costly  stones 
For  other  men  to  build  on  and  get  praised, 
While  our  names  are  forgotten  or  passed  o'er." 

In  all  departments  of  life  it  is  the  quiet  forces 
that  effect  the  most.  How  silently  all  day  long 
the  sunbeams  fall  upon  the  fields  and  gardens ! 
They  make  no  noise.  Yet  what  cheer,  what 
benediction,  what  renewal  of  life,  what  inspirations 
of  beauty  they  diffuse  !  How  silently  the  flowers 
bloom,  and  yet  what  sweetness  they  pour  upon 
the  air!  How  silently  the  stars  move  on  in  their 
majestic  marches  round  God's  throne !  They 
utter  no  voice.  Yet  they  are  vast  worlds,  or  they 
are  central  suns  with  systems  of  worlds  revolving 
round  them.  How  silently  God's  angels  work, 
stepping  with  noiseless  tread  through  our  homes, 
performing  ever  their  quiet  ministries  for  us  and 
about  us !  Who  ever  hears  the  flutter  of  the 
angels'  wings  or  the  whisper  of  their  tongues  ? 
Yet  they  ever  throng  the  air  and  arc  continually 
bearing  to  us  their  messages  of  cheer,  joy,  hope, 
and  comfort,  and  are  ceaselessly  engaged  in  their 
ministries    of    protection,     guidance,    and    help. 


THE  BEAUTY  OF  QUIETNESS  87 

How  silently  God  Himself  works !  He  is  never 
absent  from  our  side.  He  never  ceases  blessing 
us  for  a  moment.  He  brings  us  gifts  while  we 
sleep  and  is  gone  before  we  awake.  He  comes  so 
quietly  that  He  never  disturbs  us.  He  comes 
into  our  sick  rooms,  stands  beside  our  beds  of 
pain,  and  sits  down  beside  us  in  our  time  of 
sorrow  and  gives  comfort,  but  we  never  hear 
Him.     He  makes  no  ado. 

One  of  the  most  beautiful  qualities  in  the  life 
of  Christ  was  His  quietness.  The  prophet  said 
of  Him  before  He  came  into  the  world,  "  He  will 
not  cry,  nor  lift  up  His  voice,  nor  cause  it  to  be 
heard  in  the  street."  When  earthly  kings  move 
through  the  land  they  make  a  great  display. 
Heralds  go  before  them  and  proclaim  their  com- 
ing. Attention  is  drawn  to  them  and  great  public 
demonstrations  mark  their  movements.  The 
booming  of  cannon,  the  ringing  of  bells,  and  the 
shouts  of  the  people  tell  of  their  coming  and 
going.  When  heaven's  King  went  on  earth's 
streets  there  was  no  noise.  He  sought  not,  but 
rather  shunned,  publicity  and  fame.  Throngs 
did  indeed  follow  Him,  but  they  were  drawn  by 
the  ministry  of  love  He  wrought  wherever  He 
went — healing,  comforting,  forgiving,  saving. 
When   the   people    in    their    enthusiasm    tried  to 


88  OUR  NEW  EDENS 

make  Him  their  king,  He  fled  away  to  the  moun- 
tains, seeking  refuge  there  with  God.  He  never 
advertised  Himself.  He  did  nothing  for  show. 
Yet  think  what  blessings  He  left  in  the  world 
as  He  passed  through  it.  Wherever  His  feet 
touched  the  earth,  flowers  grew  in  the  path.  Into 
whatsoever  home  He  entered  He  carried  a  breath 
of  heaven  and  left  there  the  benediction  of  His 
peace.  Every  life  He  touched  had  in  it  after- 
wards something  of  beauty  or  of  blessing  it  never 
had  had  before.  It  is  now  nineteen  centuries 
since  Jesus  walked  on  the  earth  in  human  form, 
and  still  the  influence  of  His  gentle,  blessed,  quiet 
life  fills  all  the  world. 

Which  class  of  men  have  most  deeply  impressed 
the  world — those  who  have  made  the  greatest 
noise  or  the  quiet  people  ?  Of  course,  in  the 
records  of  history  the  names  that  are  most  promi- 
nent are  those  of  kings  and  warriors  and  men  of 
ambition.  But  there  have  always  been  in  the 
world  a  host  of  quiet  folk  who  have  attracted  no 
attention  to  themselves,  who  have  done  no  bril- 
liant deeds,  whose  names  have  not  got  into  the 
newspapers,  but  who  have  touched  the  world's 
life  with  the  spirit  of  their  own  lives.  They  arc 
the  lowly  ones  who  dwell  near  the  heart  of  Christ, 
catch  the  tone  of  His  life,  and  then  go  on  living 


THE  BEAUTY  OF  QUIETNESS  89 

simply  and  singing  the  songs  of  love  and  peace 
they  have  learned. 

Yet  we  all  experience  the  temptation  to  want 
others  to  know  us  and  praise  us.  Many  people 
think  that  if  they  do  not  get  into  official  positions, 
or  grow  rich,  or  rise  to  power,  or  gain  newspaper 
notoriety,  or  make  a  show  in  some  way  among 
men,  they  have  failed  in  living.  But  some  day  it 
will  be  seen  that  usually  those  who  have  wrought 
quietly  and  without  fame  or  human  praise  have 
achieved  the  noblest  and  most  permanent  results. 

*'  What  shall  I  do  lest  life  in  silence  pass? 

And  if  it  do 
And  never  prompt  the  bray  of  brass, 

What  need' St  thou  rue  ? 
Remember  aye  the  ocean's  deeps  are  mute — 

The  shallows  roar ; 
Worth  is  the  ocean  ;  fame  is  the  bruit 

Along  the  shore." 

Only  the  other  day  one  came  and  spoke  with 
sadness  of  what  appeared  to  be  a  useless  life.  It 
seemed  to  have  been  without  result,  without 
blessing  to  others  or  honor  to  Christ,  because 
nothing  great  or  conspicuous  had  been  done. 
Yet  all  who  know  this  friend  are  aware  that  with 
her  quiet  life,  her  victorious  cheerfulness,  her 
unfailing  kindness,  she  carries  benedictions  wher- 
ever she  goes. 


90  OUR  NEW  EDENS 

"  Something  each  day — a  word, 

We  cannot  know  its  power  ; 
It  grows  in  fruitfulness 

As  grows  the  gentle  shower. 
What  comfort  it  may  bring 

Where  all  is  dark  and  drear  ! 
For  a  kind  word  every  day 

Makes  pleasant  all  the  year. 

"  Something  each  day — a  thought, 

Unselfish,  good,  and  true, 
That  aids  another's  needs, 

While  we  our  way  pursue  ; 
That  seeks  to  lighten  hearts. 

That  leads  to  pathways  clear  ; 
For  a  helpful  thought  each  day 

Makes  happy  all  the  year. 

"  Something  each  day — a  deed_^ 

Of  kindness  and  of  good, 
To  link  in  closer  bonds 

All  human  brotherhood. 
Oh,  thus  the  heavenly  will 

We  all  may  do  while  here ; 
For  a  good  deed  every  day 

Makes  blessed  all  the  year." 

Much  of  the  best  work  in  this  world  is  done 
unconsciously.  Indeed,  there  is  danger  always 
that  the  good  deeds  we  do  consciously  and  with 
intention  shall  be  marred  by  the  very  conscious- 
ness with  which  we  do  them.  There  is  a  legend 
of  a    good    man's    shadow    which,   when    it    fell 


THE  BEAUTY  OF  QUIETNESS  91 

behind  him  where  he  could  not  see  it,  had  healing 
power;  but  which,  when  it  fell  before  his  face, 
where  he  could  see  it,  had  no  such  power.  The 
legend  is  true  in  life.  There  are  many  quiet 
people  who  never  dream  that  they  are  useful  at 
all,  who  even  deplore  their  uselessness,  but  whose 
days  are  really  full  of  gentleness  and  kindness, 
ever  setting  in  motion  gentle  tides  of  beneficent 
and  heavenly  influences  which  make  the  whole 
world  better,  sweetening  its  air  and  enriching  its 
life.  Some  day  it  will  be  seen  that  our  very  best 
work  in  God's  sight  is  done  when  we  are  not 
aware  that  we  are  doing  any  good  at  all,  while 
much  that  we  glory  in  as  the  finest  achievements 
of  our  lives  will  prove  to  have  been  of  no  value 
because  filled  with  self. 

The  lives  of  good  people  are  sometimes  com- 
pared to  the  dew.  One  point  of  likeness  is  the 
quiet  way  in  which  the  dew  performs  its  ministry. 
It  falls  silently  and  imperceptibly.  It  makes  no 
noise.  No  one  hears  it  dropping.  It  chooses  its 
time  in  the  night  when  men  are  sleeping,  when 
none  can  see  its  beautiful  work.  It  covers  the 
leaves  with  clusters  of  pearls.  It  steals  into  the 
bosoms  of  the  flowers  and  leaves  new  cupfuls  of 
sweetness  there.  It  pours  itself  down  among  the 
roots  of  the  grasses  and  tender  herbs  and  plants. 


92  OUR  NEW  EDENS 

It  loses  itself  altogether,  and  yet  it  is  not  lost. 
For  in  the  morning  there  is  fresh  life  everywhere 
and  new  beauty.  The  fields  are  greener,  the  gar- 
dens are  more  fragrant,  and  all  nature  is  clothed 
in  fresh  luxuriance. 

Is  there  not  in  this  simile  a  suggestion  as  to 
the  way  we  should  seek  to  do  good  in  this  world  ? 
Should  we  not  wish  to  have  our  influence  felt  while 
no  one  thinks  of  us  rather  than  that  we  should 
be  seen  and  heard  and  praised  ?  Should  we  not 
be  willing  to  lose  ourselves  in  the  service  of  self- 
forgetful  love,  as  the  dew  loses  itself  in  the  bosom 
of  the  rose,  caring  only  that  other  lives  shall  be 
sweeter,  happier,  and  better,  and  not  that  honor 
shall  come  to  us  ?  We  are  too  anxious,  some  of 
us,  that  our  names  shall  be  written  in  large  letters 
on  the  things  we  do,  even  on  what  we  do  for  our 
Master,  and  are  not  willing  to  sink  ourselves  out 
of  sight  and  let  Him  only  have  the  praise. 

Our  Lord's  teaching  on  the  subject  is  very 
plain.  He  says :  "  When  therefore  thou  doest 
alms,  sound  not  a  trumpet  before  thee,  as  the 
hypocrites  do  in  the  synagogues  and  in  the 
streets,  that  they  may  have  glory  of  men.  Verily 
I  say  unto  you,  They  have  received  their  reward." 
That  is,  they  have  glory  of  men — all  they  seek. 
*'  But  when  thou  doest  alms,  let  not  thy  left  hand 


THE  BEAUTY  OF  QUIETNESS  93 

know  what  thy  right  hand  doeth :  that  thine  alms 
may  be  in  secret." 

The  meaning  would  seem  to  be  that  we  are  not 
to  wish  people  to  know  of  our  good  deeds,  our 
charities,  our  self-denials ;  that  we  should  not 
seek  publicity,  newspaper  announcements,  for 
example,  when  we  give  money  or  do  good  works ; 
indeed,  that  we  are  not  even  to  tell  ourselves 
what  we  have  done ;  that  we  are  not  to  think  about 
our  own  good  deeds  so  as  to  become  conscious 
of  them  ;  not  to  put  them  down  in  our  diaries 
and  go  about  complimenting  ourselves,  throwing 
bouquets  at  ourselves,  and  whispering:  "  How 
good  I  am !     What  fine  things  I  have  done ! " 

This  is  a  close  test  of  our  lives.  Are  we  will- 
ing to  be  as  the  dew — to  steal  abroad  in  the 
darkness,  carrying  blessings  to  men's  doors, 
blessings  that  shall  enrich  the  lives  of  others  and 
do  them  good,  and  then  steal  away  again  before 
those  we  have  helped  or  blessed  waken  to  know 
what  hand  it  was  that  brought  the  gift  ?  Are  we 
willing  to  work  for  others  without  gratitude,  with- 
out recognition,  without  human  praise,  without 
requital  ?  Are  we  content  to  have  our  lives 
poured  out  like  the  dew  to  bless  the  world  and 
make  it  more  fruitful,  and  yet  remain  hidden 
away  ourselves  ?     Is  it  enough  for  us  to  see  the 


94  OUR  NEW  EDENS 

fruits  of  our  toil  and  sacrifice  in  others'  brightened 
homes,  greater  prosperity  and  deeper  happiness  ; 
or  in  good  institutions,  in  renewed  society,  in 
benefits  prepared  by  us  and  enjoyed  by  others, 
yet  never  hear  our  names  spoken  in  praise  or 
honor — perhaps  even  hearing  others  praised  for 
things  we  have  done  ? 

Yet,  is  it  not  thus  that  our  lesson  teaches  us  we 
are  to  live  if  we  are  followers  of  Christ?  John 
the  Baptist,  when  they  asked  him  who  he  was,  , 
said  he  was  only  a  voice — a  voice  crying  in  the 
wilderness,  foretelling  the  Messiah.  That  was 
humility — hiding  away  that  only  Christ  should 
be  seen  and  honored.  Florence  Nightingale, 
having  gone  as  an  angel  of  mercy  among  the 
hospitals  of  the  Crimea  until  her  name  was  en- 
shrined in  every  soldier's  heart,  asked  to  be 
excused  from  having  her  picture  taken,  when 
thousands  of  the  men  begged  for  it,  that  ^he 
might  drop  out  and  be  forgotten,  and  that 
Christ  alone  might  be  remembered  as  the  author 
of  the  blessings  her  hands  had  ministered.  That 
was  the  true  Christian  spirit. 

We  need  not  trouble  ourselves  about  fame, 
trying  to  make  sure  of  honor  and  praise  when  we 
have  done  anything  for  the  Master.  What  is 
fame  ?     At  the  best,   it  is  likely  to  be  transient — 


THE  BEAUTY  OF  QUIETNESS  95 

We  all  know  how  soon  the  world  forgets  even  its 
brightest  names.  A  man  who  has  filled  a  large 
place  among  his  fellows  dies  to-day.  To-morrow 
all  the  newspapers  will  give  him  a  notice,  longer 
or  shorter.  Two  or  three  days  later  his  funeral 
occurs  and  then  his  name  disappears  from  the 
public  prints  unless  he  has  so  disposed  of  his 
property  that  the  announcement  shall  start 
another  ripple  of  publicity.  Recently  an  honored 
railroad  president  died,  and  the  day  he  was  buried 
every  wheel  on  the  great  railway  system  he  had 
directed  stopped  and  stood  still  for  ten  minutes. 
Then  the  trains  rolled  on  as  before,  and  the  great 
man  will  scarcely  be  missed  or  mentioned  here- 
after. 

What  an  empty  thing  is  fame !  How  unsatis- 
factory !  How  hard  it  is  to  maintain !  How 
fickle  it  is  !  There  is  a  picture  of  the  place  of  the 
crucifixion  of  Jesus,  with  the  empty  cross,  and 
the  crowd  gone,  and  over  yonder  an  ass  nibbling 
at  a  piece  of  withered  palm  branch.  That  is  the 
way  of  fame  too  often.  Palm  Sunday  and  Good 
Friday  were  only  five  days  apart.  Says  Emily 
Dickinson  : — 

Fame  is  a  bee. 

It  has  a  song — 

It  has  a  sting — 

Ah,  too,  it  has  a  wing. 


96  OUR  NEW  EDENS 

As  one  writes :  **  When  death  has  dropped  the 
curtain,  we  shall  hear  no  more  applause.  And 
though  we  fondly  dream  that  it  will  continue  after 
we  have  left  the  stage,  we  do  not  realize  how 
quickly  it  will  die  away  in  silence  while  the  audi- 
ence turns  to  look  at  the  new  actor  and  the  next 
scene.  Our  position  in  society  will  be  filled  as 
soon  as  it  is  vacated,  and  our  name  remembered 
only  for  a  moment — except,  please  God,  by  a  few 
who  have  learned  to  love  us,  not  because  of  fame, 
but  because  we  have  helped  them  and  done  them 
some  good." 

The  closing  words  of  this  quotation  tell  us  the 
secret  of  the  only  fame  that  is  worth  living  for — 
the  fame  of  love,  won  not  by  our  great  deeds,  but 
by  service  in  Christ's  name.  The  only  fame  that 
will  last. will  be  in  the  records  of  good  done  to 
others.  Vain  was  the  child's  wish  that  he  might 
help  God  paint  the  clouds  and  sunsets,  for  as  we 
watch  the  glorious  banks  of  clouds  in  the  heavens, 
their  form  changes  and  their  glory  vanishes.  But 
if  you  go  about  doing  good  in  simple  ways,  in 
gentle  kindnesses,  not  thinking  of  reward,  not 
dreaming  of  praise,  not  hoping  for  any  return, 
you  are  enshrining  your  name  where  it  will  have 
immortal  honor. 

Long,  long  centuries  ago  a  little  fern  leaf  grew 


THE  BEAUTY  OF  QUIETNESS  97 

in  a  valley.  Its  veins  were  delicate  and  its  fibers 
tender.  It  was  very  lovely  in  its  green  tracery. 
But  by  and  by  it  fell  and  perished  in  the  indis- 
tinguishable mass  of  vegetation  that  lay  in  the 
valley.  It  seemed,  indeed,  -lost,  for  who  could 
ever  find  a  fern  leaf  again  amid  such  heaps  of 
decay  ?  It  had  made  no  history  and  left  no  trace, 
no  impression  in  the  world,  had  done  nothing  to 
tell  of  its  brief  stay  on  the  earth. 

But  the  other  day  a  thoughtful  man  of  science, 
searching  out  nature's  secrets,  came  with  pick 
and  hammer  and  broke  off  a  piece  of  rock — and 
there  his  eyes  traced  on  the  stone — 

*'  Fairy  pencilings,  a  quaint  design, 
Leafage,  veining,  fibers,  clear  and  fine  ; 
And  the  fern's  life  lay  in  every  line. 
So,  I  think,  God  hides  some  souls  away, 
Sweetly  to  surprise  us  at  the  last  day." 

So  God  hides  away  the  things  of  love  we  do  in 
the  silence,  with  no  thought  of  reward — hides 
them  away  in  the  memories,  in  the  hearts,  and  in 
the  lives  of  those  we  help,  or  bless,  or  influence 
for  good.  Nothing  done  in  love  and  in  humility 
will  be  lost.  Fame  is  transient  and  ephemeral, 
like  the  flowers  you  wear  to-day,  which  will  fade 
by  to-morrow ;  but  the  touches  you  put  upon 
human  lives  are  immortal. 
7 


98  OUR  NEW  EDENS 

Those  who  have  learned  to  live  '*  in  quietness 
and  in  confidence  "  have  found  the  true  secret  of 
beautiful  living.  Confidence !  God  loves  to  be 
trusted.  We  all  love  to  be  trusted.  Earth  has 
no  sweeter  joy  than  when  one  heart  trusts 
another.  God  is  like  us  in  this — trusting  Him 
gives  Him  joy.  He  has  a  plan  for  our  lives,  a 
plan  that  takes  in  all  our  days  and  their  smallest 
events.  "  The  very  hairs  of  your  head  are  all 
numbered  "  means  not  that  God  actually  counts 
our  hairs — there  would  be  no  use  in  that — but 
that  the  smallest  things  are  included  in  God's 
thought  for  our  lives.  One  came  to  me  in  anxiety 
about  the  future.  This  friend  has  had  a  good 
position  for  several  years,  but  the  office  would  be 
closed  August  thirty-first — in  one  month — and 
the  work  would  cease.  "  Then  what  shall  I  do  ?  " 
asked  the  person.  The  answer  I  gave  was  : 
"  God  has  a  plan  for  your  life  far  beyond  August 
thirty-first.  His  plan  takes  in  all  the  months 
after  that  as  long  as  you  may  live.  He  will  have 
something  ready  for  you  when  your  present  task 
is  finished."  God  loves  to  have  us  trust  Him 
implicitly.  The  simpler  our  faith  is,  the  more  joy 
it  gives  Him.  And  He  will  never  disappoint  our 
confidence. 

We  do  not  know  how  much  we  grieve  God  by 


THE  BEAUTY  OF  QUIETNESS  99 

our  noisy  fretfulness,  our  peevish  complainings, 
our  miserable  discontents,  our  sad  unbeliefs.  Oh, 
for  quietness  and  confidence  !  The  promise  runs  : 
"  In  quietness  and  in  confidence  shall  be  your 
strength."  Strength — that  is  just  what  we  need, 
for  we  are  pitiably  weak.  If  only  we  would  get 
quiet  and  still,  God's  strength  would  come  into 
our  lives.  If  only  we  had  confidence — that  would 
bring  us  into  communion  with  Christ,  and  leaning 
on  Him,  His  strength  would  become  ours  and 
His  peace  would  hold  us  quiet  and  at  rest. 


**0h,  the  little  birds  sang  east, 
And  the  little  birds  sang  west, 
And  I  smiled  to  think  God's  greatness 
Flowed  round  our  incompleteness — 
Round  our  restlessness — His  rest." 

When  sailors  are  heaving  the  anchor,  they  start 
a  song  and  keep  time  to  the  music.  When  sol- 
diers are  going  into  battle,  the  bands  play  martial 
airs  to  inspire  the  men.  Carlyle  said,  "  Give  us, 
oh,  give  us  the  man  who  sings  at  his  work." 
There  is  tremendous  power  in  a  songful  heart. 
Quietness  and  confidence  will  fill  our  hearts  with 
music,  and  then  we  will  be  strong. 


VI 
THE   NAME   ON    THE   FOREHEAD 


"  His  servants  shall  serve  Him  :  and  they  shall  see  His  face  ; 
and  His  name  shall  be  on  their  foreheads." — Revelation 
xxii.  3,  4. 

"Jesus  taught 
Life  beyond  this  life,  timeless,  infinite  ; 
As  little  parted  from  the  world  we  see 
As  daytime  is  from  dream-time,  when  we  drowse, 
And  think  'tis  night  with  sunlight  on  our  lids." 

—  The  Light  of  the  World. 


VI 

THE  NAME  ON  THE  FOREHEAD 

In  his  vision  of  the  holy  city  John  saw  much 
that  was  wonderful.  He  saw  the  redeemed  in 
their  everyday  life  and  had  glimpses  of  their 
glory  and  their  happiness.  Among  other  things 
he  tells  us,  "  His  servants  shall  serve  Him  :  and 
they  shall  see  His  face ;  and  His  name  shall  be 
on  their  foreheads."  It  is  well  that  we  should 
look  in  upon  the  beauty  and  blessedness  of  the 
heavenly  home  when  we  may,  that  we  may  know 
something  of  the  glory  that  is  waiting  for  us.  It 
is  well  that  we  should  see  a  little  of  the  life  and 
the  privileges  of  the  saints  who  are  with  Christ 
that  we  may  be  stimulated  and  encouraged  in  our 
struggles  and  our  slow  attaining.  That  is  what 
we  are  going  to  be  by  and  by.  These  things 
will  be  said  of  us  after  a  while. 

"  His  servants  shall  serve  Him."     That  is  what 

they  do  here  too — they  serve  Him.     We  are  set 

here  to  toil.     Our  hands  are  full  of  tasks.     Our 

work  is  never  done.     Paul  loved  to  call  himself 

103 


I04  OUR  NEW  EDENS 

the  servant  of  Christ.  He  belonged  to  Christ 
altogether.  Once  he  gathered  all  the  creeds  of 
his  life  into  one  great  phrase — "  Whose  I  am, 
and  whom  I  serve."  The  Master's  disciples  arc 
called  and  sent  out  to  do  their  Lord's  work  in 
this  world.  All  our  work,  even  what  we  call 
secular  work,  belongs  to  our  serving  of  Christ. 
**  Whatsoever  ye  do,  in  word  or  in  deed,  do  all  in 
the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus."  The  tasks  that  fill 
our  hands  through  the  long  days,  all  are  done  for 
Christ,  if  we  are  really  living  for  Him.  We  are 
always  serving  Him,  not  only  when  we  are 
engaged  in  some  spiritual  service,  but  also  when 
we  are  attending  to  our  business  affairs.  We  all 
have  some  little  part  to  do  also  in  advancing  our 
Master's  kingdom.  We  are  to  help  to  carry  the 
gospel  to  every  creature.  Ease  is  not  to  be 
thought  of  while  we  stay  here. 

But  some  people  suppose  that  this  life  of  ser- 
vice is  only  for  the  earth,  and  that  it  will  be  no 
longer  required  when  we  pass  into  the  other  life. 
Heaven  is  thought  of  by  many  as  a  place  of 
absolute  rest,  where  the  inhabitants  will  have 
nothing  more  to  do  forever.  Indeed,  in  one  of 
the  beatitudes  of  the  book  of  The  Revelation  we 
are  told  of  the  blessed  dead  that  when  they  die  in 
the  Lord  they   rest  from  their  labors.     But  the 


THE  NAME  ON  THE  FOREHEAD  105 

word  "labors"  here  does  not  mean  things  we  do 
in  love  for  our  Master.  It  has  in  it  the  idea  of 
painful  toils,  cares,  anxieties,  sufferings.  Much 
of  earth's  work  is  hard,  sometimes  bitter.  It  is 
often  unrequited  or  poorly  requited.  It  is  bur- 
densome and  oppressive.  Many  good  people 
suffer  injustice  at  the  hands  of  others.  There  are 
those  also  who  are  compelled  to  work  in  pain  and 
ill  health  all  their  days.  Then  many  spend  their 
lives  in  toil  and  have  nothing  to  show  for  it  at  the 
end,  nothing  gathered  for  times  of  adversity  and 
need.  A  great  deal  of  the  world's  work  is  full  of 
labor  and  sorrow. 

What  the  words  mean  is  that  the  servants  of 
Christ  shall  rest  from  all  that  is  hard,  burden- 
some, and  painful  in  earth's  experience.  Nothing 
of  fret  or  pain  or  anguish  can  enter  heaven. 
Whatever  is  burdensome  or  oppressive  in  labor 
will  be  left  behind,  but  work  will  be  a  feature  of 
the  heavenly  life.  We  are  not  going  into  a  world 
of  idleness  when  we  leave  this  world.  Indeed, 
heaven  would  not  be  a  heaven  to  us  if  we  could 
never  do  anything  there.  For  even  in  this  world 
the  sweetest,  deepest,  purest  joy  of  life  is  that 
which  we  find  in  doing  good,  in  serving  others. 
This  was  Christ's  own  sweetest  joy.  He  came  to 
earth  to  serve.     He  loved,  and  love's  deepest  joy 


io6  OUR  NEW  EDENS 

always  comes  in  helping,  blessing,  comforting 
others.  He  bequeathed  His  joy  to  us,  and  so  we 
find  our  holiest  joy,  as  He  found  His,  in  serving.  If 
we  have  not  learned  this  secret,  we  have  one  of  life's 
sweetest  lessons  yet  to  learn  in  beginning  to  serve. 
There  is  a  beautiful  legend  which  tells  that  one 
shepherd  was  kept  at  home  watching  a  fevered 
guest  the  night  the  angels  came  to  Bethlehem 
with  the  announcement  of  the  birth  of  Jesus. 
The  other  shepherds  saw  the  heavenly  host, 
heard  their  song,  and  beheld  the  glory.  Return- 
ing home,  their  hearts  were  wonderfully  elated. 
But  all  the  night  Shemuel  sat  alone  by  the  rest- 
less sufferer  and  waited.  His  fellow-shepherds 
pitied  him  because  he  had  missed  the  vision  and 
the  glory  which  they  had  seen.  But  in  his  patient 
serving  he  had  found  blessing  and  reward  of  his 
own.  He  had  missed,  indeed,  the  splendor  of 
that  night  in  the  fields,  and  in  his  serving  he  gave 
up  his  own  Hfe,  for  the  fever-poison  touched  him 
and  he  died.  But  he  had  tasted  the  joy  of  sacri- 
fice, and  then  his  eyes  saw  a  more  wondrous  glory 
when  he  entered  the  Divine  presence. 

"  Shemuel,  by  the  fever-lied, 
Touched  by  beckoning  hands  that  led, 
Died  and  saw  the  Uncreated  ; 
All  his  fellows  lived  and  waited." 


THE  NAME  ON  THE  FOREHEAD  107 

So  it  always  is  in  life  in  this  world.  Those  who 
sit  by  fever-beds,  denying  themselves  the  ease 
and  indulgence  which  others  seek,  while  they 
minister  to  human  need,  seem  to  miss  much  that 
is  very  beautiful.  Their  gentle  ministry  keeps 
them  away  from  places  of  privilege,  even  from 
scenes  of  spiritual  ecstasy.  Their  duty  is  to  nurse 
the  sick.  Or  they  are  mothers,  caring  for  little 
children.  While  at  their  common  tasks,  they  see 
not  the  angel  hosts  nor  hear  their  songs.  They 
are  kept  away  from  scenes  of  earthly  gladness 
and  joy.  Their  mission  is  to  serve.  But  mean- 
while they  have  their  own  reward — the  sweet, 
sacred  joy  which  comes  into  the  hearts  of  those 
who  love  and  serve  in  Christ's  name. 

"  His  servants  shall  serve  Him."  That  is,  in 
the  other  life.  They  have  served  Him  here,  and 
they  will  continue  to  serve  Him  in  heaven. 
What  their  work  there  will  be  we  do  not  know. 
We  are  told  that  the  saints  in  glory  will  be  as  the 
angels.  Angels  serve.  They  are  ministering 
spirits  sent  forth  to  minister  to  the  heirs  of  salva- 
tion in  this  world.  In  the  Scriptures  we  have 
many  glimpses  of  angels  at  their  work — cheering, 
helping,  delivering,  guiding  God's  children — 
always  serving.  If  we  are  to  be  as  the  angels,  we 
shall  serve.     Angels  are  sent  everywhere  to  carry 


io8  OUR  NEW  EDENS 

messages  of  comfort,  cheer,  and  help.  Why  may 
wc  not  be  sent  to  this  or  other  worlds  on  min- 
istries of  love  ? 

We  are  told  that  in  heaven  we  shall  be  like 
Christ,  and  He  served.  His  life  was  an  unbroken 
service  of  love.  Of  all  the  portraits  of  the  Master 
in  the  New  Testament,  none  is  more  characteristic 
than  that  one  which  shows  Him  girt  with  the 
towel  and  with  the  basin  in  His  hand,  washing 
His  disciples'  feet.  "  I  am  among  you  as  He  that 
serveth,"  He  said.  He  went  about  His  tasks 
doing  good.  His  days  were  all  filled  with  kind- 
ness. We  have  accounts  of  a  few  great  miracles 
wrought  by  Him,  but  all  His  hours  and  moments 
were  filled  with  little  words  and  deeds  of  love. 
He  was  always  serving.  For  every  one  He  met 
His  heart  yearned ;  to  every  pain  and  sorrow  His 
compassion  went  out ;  and  to  every  human  need 
His  hand  was  reached  forth  to  help.  He  said  He 
came  to  do  the  work  of  His  Father,  and  that  was 
love's  work.  He  passed  into  heaven  at  the  time 
of  His  ascension,  but  He  did  not  cease  to  show 
kindness.  Luke,  referring  to  Christ's  stay  on 
earth,  says  that  in  that  time  He  "  began  both  to 
do  and  to  teach."  He  only  began  His  ministry 
of  love.  Wc  do  not  see  Him  now  going  on  our 
streets  helping,  comforting,  cheering,  but  He  has 


THE  NAME  ON  THE  FOREHEAD  109 

never  ceased  His  activity  in  this  world.     He  con- 
tinues to  serve. 

"  So  still,  dear  Lord,  in  every  place 
Thou  standest  by  the  toiling  folk, 

With  love  and  pity  in  Thy  face, 

And  givest  of  Thy  help  and  grace 

To  those  who  meekly  bear  the  yoke." 

If  we  are  to  be  like  Christ  in  heaven,  surely  we 
shall  serve  too  as  He  does.  We  have  one  in- 
stance in  the  Scriptures  of  saints  from  heaven 
coming  back  to  earth  to  serve.  Jesus  was  setting 
out  on  His  journey  to  the  cross.  The  burden  on 
Him  was  very  heavy.  His  heart  was  tender  and 
the  road  before  Him  was  indeed  a  sorrowful  way. 
He  did  not  shrink,  but  He  needed  comfort.  So 
one  night  two  glorious  beings  were  sent  from 
their  abode  in  heaven  to  talk  with  Him  and  to 
encourage  Him.  These  were  Moses  and  Elijah. 
They  had  been  centuries  at  home  with  God. 
Now  they  came  back  to  earth  to  strengthen  the 
Son  of  man  in  His  hour  of  need. 

May  not  this  one  recorded  instance  of  such 
serving  mean  to  us  that  others  who  have  passed 
into  heaven  also  shall  be  sent  back  to  earth  on 
errands  of  love  to  those  who  need  them  in  their 
struggles  and  sorrows  ?  We  do  not  know — we 
cannot  tell,  but  if  such  service  was  rendered  once, 


no  OUR  NEW  EDENS 

may  it  not  be  done  again  ?  May  not  others  of 
Christ's  servants  be  sent  to  this  world  to  bring 
help,  cheer,  encouragement  to  those  who  are  weary 
or  troubled  or  faint?  Of  this,  at  least,  we  are 
sure — that  in  heaven  "  His  servants  shall  serve 
Him."  Death  does  not  interrupt  life,  nor  does  it 
end  hfe's  work.  We  shall  have  more  love  in  our 
hearts  in  heaven  than  we  ever  have  here,  and  love 
always  serves.  Love  would  die  if  it  had  no 
opportunity  to  help,  to  render  aid,  to  do  good. 
All  our  training  in  this  world  is  toward  useful- 
ness. We  are  taught  that  we  are  to  do  good  to 
all  men,  to  bear  one  another's  burdens,  to  be  sons 
of  consolation,  to  help  the  weak,  to  guard  and 
keep  other  lives.  Surely  all  this  training  is  not 
for  earth  only.  In  some  way  in  heaven  we  will 
continue  serving  Christ  by  serving  others.  Indeed, 
at  the  best,  our  life  here  is  but  a  school  of  prac- 
tice in  which  we  are  trained  for  the  real  work 
which  it  will  be  ours  to  do  in  the  immortal  years. 
"  His  servants  shall  serve  Him." 

"  And  they  shall  see  His  face."  In  this  world 
we  do  not  see  our  Lord's  face.  He  is  with  us, 
but  we  do  not  see  Him.  We  endure  as  seeing 
Him  who  is  invisible,  but  no  one  ever  saw  God  in 
this  world.  The  Bible  tells  us,  however,  that  we 
shall  have  the  "beatific  vision"  in  heaven.     We 


THE  NAME  ON  THE  FOREHEAD  in 

have  this  in  Job  :  "  After  my  skin,  even  this  body, 
is  destroyed,  then  without  my  flesh  shall  I  see 
God."     In  one  of  the  Psalms  we  read  : — 

"  As  for  me,  I  shall  behold  Thy  face  in  righteousness  ; 
I  shall  be  satisfied,  when  I  awake,  with  beholding  Thy  form." 

One  of  our  Lord's  Beatitudes  reads  :  "  Blessed 
are  the  pure  in  heart :  for  they  shall  see  God." 
John  says  that  in  heaven  we  shall  be  Hke  Christ, 
for  we  shall  see  Him  as  He  is.  One  day  we  shall 
slip  away  from  these  scenes  of  earth.  Our  eyes 
shall  be  closed  on  all  familiar  things.  Next 
moment — O  rapture !  they  will  be  opened  on  the 
unveiled  face  of  Jesus  Christ.  That  is  what  death 
will  be  to  you  if  you  are  God's  child.  You  may 
dread  it,  but  it  is  only  going  to  look  at  your 
Redeemer's  face. 

"  From  the  dust  of  the  weary  highway, 

From  the  smart  of  sorrow' s  rod, 
Into  the  royal  presence, 

They  are  bidden  as  guests  of  God. 
The  veil  from  their  eyes  is  taken, 

Sweet  mysteries  they  are  shown  ; 
Their  doubt  and  fears  are  over, 

For  they  know  as  they  are  known." 

The  bliss  of  heaven  will  be  largely  in  being 
with  Christ,  in  seeing  His  face,  in  enjoying  His 
companionship,  His  friendship. 


112  OUR  NEW  EDENS 

The  words,  "  they  shall  see  His  face,"  suggest 
that  this  will  be  the  inspiration  of  the  heavenly 
service.  We  know  what  a  benediction  the  face 
of  a  loved  and  honored  human  friend  is  to  us  as 
we  go  out  on  any  hard  task  or  dangerous  duty. 
There  are  men  whose  "  God  bless  you  "  makes  us 
braver  and  stronger  for  days.  One  said,  speaking 
of  a  dear  and  noble  friend,  "  To  meet  him  in  the 
morning  and  have  his  smile  brightens  all  the 
hours  of  the  day  for  me."  What  will  it  be  in 
heaven  to  look  into  Christ's  face  of  love  in  the 
morning  and  to  have  His  smile ! 

To  see  the  face  of  Christ  is  also  a  token  of  high 
honor.  Not  many  people  are  admitted  to  the  pres- 
ence of  a  king.  Only  his  favorites  and  those  high 
in  rank  have  this  privilege.  But  in  heaven  all  Christ's 
servants  shall  see  His  face.  That  is,  they  shall  be 
admitted  to  the  closest  fellowship  and  shall  have 
all  the  privileges  of  intimate  friends. 

What  a  blessed  moment  it  will  be  when  we  are 
ushered  into  the  presence  of  Christ !  No  wonder 
Saint  Paul  says,  "To  depart  and  be  with  Christ 
....  is  very  far  better."  This  is  a  beautiful 
world — it  is  part  of  our  Father's  house.  It  is 
wondrously  adorned.  It  is  sweet  to  live  here, 
with  human  love  to  surround  us  with  its  gentle- 
ness.    But  it  will  be  very  far  better  to  be  with 


THE  NAME  ON  THE  FOREHEAD  113 

Christ,  serving  close  by   His  side,  looking  into 

His  face  as  we  come  and  go.  Miss  Willard's  last 

words  were,   "  How  beautiful  to  be  with  God ! " 
and  one  writes  : — 

'*  Then  let  it  fade,  this  dream  of  earth, 
When  I  have  done  my  life-work  here, 
Or  long,  or  short,  as  seemeth  best — 
What  matters,  so  God' s  will  appear  ? 

'*  I  will  not  fear  to  launch  my  bark 
Upon  the  darkly  rolling  flood, 
'Tis  but  to  pierce  the  mist — and  then, 
How  beautiful  to  be  with  God  ! ' ' 

"  His    name    shall    be    on    their    foreheads."  ^ 

1  Recently  I  received  a  letter  from  Henry  G.  Weston,  D.D., 
LL.  D.,  President  of  the  Crozer  Baptist  Theological  Semi- 
nary. Dr.  Weston  is  eminent  as  one  of  the  most  honored  ex- 
positors of  the  Bible  in  this  country.  Well  past  eighty  years 
of  age,  he  is  still  active  in  all  good  work  for  his  Master.  He  is 
a  man  greatly  beloved.  His  friendship  for  me,  shown  in  many 
ways  along  the  years,  has  been  an  inspiration  and  a  help  beyond 
measure.     In  the  letter  referred  to,  Dr.  Weston  writes  : — 

"  My  thoughts  have  clustered  at  odd  times  about  Revelation 
xxii.  3,  4.  '  His  servants  shall  .  .  .  see  His  face  ;  and  His  name 
shall  be  on  their  foreheads.'  The  reflection  will  be  visible  to  all 
who  look  upon  them,  but  will  be  unseen  by  themselves.  That 
they  are  Christ's  is  evident  to  all,  but  of  this  they  themselves  are 
unconscious." 

This  sermon  has  been  prepared,  therefore,  at  Dr.  Weston's 
request.     The  thought  which  he  specially  notes  regarding  the 
name  on  the  forehead  is  very  beautiful. 
8 


114  OUR  NEW  EDENS 

Name  in  the  Bible  stands  for  character.  A  man's 
name  gathers  into  itself  all  that  the  man  is. 
When  you  hear  the  name  of  any  one  mentioned, 
any  one  you  know,  or  any  one  of  whom  you  have 
heard  much,  the  man's  whole  personality  rises 
before  your  mind.  So  the  name  of  God  includes 
all  that  is  revealed  of  God's  character.  To  us  it 
means  all  that  God  is  to  us.  When  it  is  said  here 
that  "  His  name  shall  be  on  their  foreheads,"  the 
thought  is  that  the  Divine  likeness  is  imprinted 
there. 

There  is  evidently  a  close  connection,  too,  be- 
tween what  is  said  in  the  second  clause  of  the 
verse  and  the  third.  "  His  servants  .  .  .  shall  see 
His  face ;  and  "  therefore  "  His  name  shall  be  on 
their  foreheads."  While  His  servants  look  upon 
the  brightness  of  their  Master's  face  its  beauty  is 
imprinted  upon  them.  That  is  what  the  beloved 
disciple  says  in  one  of  his  epistles,  "  We  shall  be 
like  Him ;  for  we  shall  see  Him  even  as  He  is." 
Looking  upon  Christ  makes  us  like  Him. 

Saint  Paul  teaches  the  same  truth  in  a  remark- 
able passage  in  one  of  his  epistles.  "  We  all, 
with  unveiled  face  beholding  as  in  a  mirror  the 
glory  of  the  Lord,  are  transformed  into  the  same 
image  from  glory  to  glory,  even  as  from  the 
Lord  the  Spirit."     This  transformation    is  not  a 


THE  NAME  ON  THE  FOREHEAD  115 

heavenly  matter  altogether — it  will  be  completed 
there,  when,  all  veils  removed,  we  shall  look 
directly  into  the  face  of  Christ ;  but  it  is  something 
for  our  earthly  hfe  too.  It  begins  here,  and  it 
goes  on,  the  likeness  coming  out  ever  more  and 
more  fully  and  clearly  as  we  know  more  and 
more  about  Christ.  Companionship  with  Him, 
communion  with  Him,  looking  into  His  face, 
prints  upon  us  His  likeness.  Every  day,  if  we 
live  as  we  should,  some  new  line  of  His  beauty 
comes  out  on  our  faces. 

But  we  must  notice  where  the  name  of  God  is 
printed — "  on  their  foreheads."  The  suggestion 
of  Dr.  Weston  is  very  beautiful — the  name  is 
where  others  can  see  it,  but  where  it  is  not  seen 
by  the  person  himself  You  cannot  see  your 
own  forehead,  and  you  are  not  aware  of  the 
nobleness  or  the  brightness  that  others  see  there. 
This  unconsciousness  of  the  radiance  on  the  face 
is  part  of  the  splendor ;  being  aware  of  it  would 
dim  the  brightness.  We  know  that  when  any 
one  is  conscious  of  the  beauty  or  the  refinement 
stamped  on  his  face,  a  great  part  of  the  beauty 
or  the  refinement  is  gone.  So  self-consciousness 
mars  spiritual  loveliness.  When  a  man  knows 
that  he  is  humble,  he  is  no  longer  humble.  The 
man  who  is  truly  poor  in   spirit  is  not   himself 


ii6  OUR  NEW  EDENS 

aware  of  the  shining  of  his  hfc,  the  splendor  of 
his  deeds,  the  power  of  his  words,  or  of  his  minis- 
tries. The  best  people  are  always  the  least  con- 
scious of  their  goodness  and  worth.  Others  sec 
the  shining,  but  they  do  not. 

There  is  a  beautiful  legend^  which  tells  of  a 
saintly  man  who  was  greatly  beloved  of  the 
angels,  who  had  seen  much  of  his  godly  life  on 
the  earth.  The  angels  asked  God  to  give  their 
favorite  some  new  power,  some  fresh  mark  of  the 
Divine  favor,  some  new  gift  or  ability,  which  would 
make  him  still  more  useful.  They  were  told 
to  see  the  man  and  ask  him  what  special  power 
he  would  like  to  have  bestowed  upon  him.  The 
angels  visited  him  and  asked  him  what  gift  he 
would  choose.  He  said  he  was  content  and 
wanted  nothing  more.  They  pressed  him  to 
name  something  which  God  might  do  for  him 
or  give  to  him.  Would  he  not  like  power  to 
work  miracles  ?  He  said  No — that  was  Christ's 
work.  Would  he  not  like  power  to  lead  many 
souls  to  Christ?  He  answered  No — it  was  the 
Holy  Spirit's  work  to  lead  men  to  the  Saviour. 

The  angels  in  their  eagerness  still  begged  him 
to  name  something  which  they  might  ask  God  to 
grant  to  him.     At  last  he  answered  that   if  he 

^  Used  in  the  author's  "  The  Master's  Blesseds,"  chapter  i. 


THE  NAME  ON  THE  FOREHEAD  117 

must  choose  any  new  power  he  would  hke  the 
ability  to  do  a  great  deal  of  good  among  men 
without  even  knowing  it.  So  it  was  granted-  that 
from  that  day  his  shadow,  when  it  fell  behind  him 
where  he  could  not  see  it,  had  wondrous  healing 
power,  but  when  it  fell  before  his  face  where  he 
could  see  it,  it  had  no  such  power. 

The  legend  teaches  its  own  lesson.  When  a 
Christian  is  aware  of  the  beauty  of  the  Lord 
upon  him,  the  beauty  is  dimmed.  We  are  pre- 
pared for  the  largest  usefulness  when  we  are 
unconscious  of  our  preparation.  "  His  name 
shall  be  on  their  foreheads."  Others  will  see  it 
shining  there.  This  will  be  true  in  the  heavenly 
life.  "We  shall  be  Hke  Him."  All  the  re- 
deemed and  all  the  angels  will  see  the  glory  of 
the  Lord  on  the  face  of  each  saint. 

The  same  is  true  also  of  every  sincere  believer 
in  this  world.  He  bears  the  image  of  his  Lord 
upon  his  life.  This  is  not  some  mystic  mark 
that  no  one  can  understand — it  is  the  beauty  of 
holiness.  When  we  study  the  gospels  and  see 
Christ  Himself,  we  learn  what  that  name  is  which 
shines  on  the  forehead  of  His  friends.  It  is 
nothing  mysterious  or  occult — it  is  patience, 
gentleness,  thoughtfulness,  humility,  kindness, 
the    spirit   of  forgiveness,   meekness,  peace,  joy, 


ii8  OUR  NEW  EDENS 

goodness.  People  have  no  difficulty  in  discover- 
ing the  marks  of  Jesus  on  those  who  wear  them. 
But  the  holy  ones  themselves  do  not  know  that 
this  blessed  name  is  burning  with  such  brightness 
on  their  brows.  They  are  surprised  when  others 
speak  of  the  beauty  of  the  Lord  upon  them. 

We  remember  it  was  said  of  Moses,  when  he 
came  down  from  the  mount  from  speaking  with 
God,  that  his  face  was  shining — the  Divine  glory 
lingered  there.  His  face  was  so  bright  that  the 
people  were  afraid  to  come  near  him,  and  he  had  to 
put  a  veil  over  it  while  he  talked  with  them.  But  it 
is  said  also  that  Moses  knew  not  that  his  face  shone. 

We  get  a  lesson  in  humility.  Let  us  not  think 
of  ourselves  more  highly  than  we  ought  to  think. 
Let  us  not  think  of  our  goodness,  our  devout- 
ness,  our  worthy  deeds,  our  helpful  services   at 

all;; Especially,  let  us  never  talk  of  our  virtues, 

our  piety,  of  what  we  have  done.  We  should 
seek  to  be  full  of  the  Spirit  of  God,  but  the 
Spirit  does  not  mean  to  glorify  us — He  would 
honor  Christ.  We  are  to  pray,  "  Let  the  beauty 
of  the  Lord  our  God  be  upon  us " ;  but  we 
should  seek  to  have  it  shining  where  we  may  not 
see  it,  where  it  may  honor  God  Himself.  We 
are  too  apt  to  be  conscious  of  our  power  and  to 
assert  ourselves  before  men  in  ways  that  hinder 


THE  NAME  ON  THE  FOREHEAD  119 

our  usefulness  and  lessen  our  influence.  "  Let 
your  light  shine  before  men,"  said  the  Master, 
"  that  they  may  see  your  good  works,  and  glorify 
your  Father" — not  you. 

How  shall  we  reach  the  blessedness  of  which 
these  words  from  the  Apocalypse  give  us  a 
glimpse  ?  These  servants  of  God,  serving  Him, 
beholding  His  face,  wearing  His  glory  on  their 
foreheads,  seem  far  beyond  us.  They  have 
climbed  up  the  mountain  to  its  summit  while  we 
are  still  toiling  away  among  the  lowest  foothills. 
How  can  we  ever  attain  the  lofty  height  where 
they  appear  ?  There  is  only  one  way — Christ. 
This  blessedness  must  begin  here  or  we  never 
shall  reach  it  there.  Heaven  must  come  down  to 
us,  into  our  hearts,  or  we  never  can  enter  heaven. 
These  noble  features  of  the  heavenly  home  are 
for  the  Christian  life  of  earth  as  well  as  the  per- 
fected life  of  glory.  We  must  begin  now  to 
realize  them.  We  must  be  Christ's  here — doing 
His  will,  going  where  He  bids  us  go,  busy  in 
ministries  of  love  in  His  name.  We  must  see 
His  face,  dwell  in  His  presence,  enjoy  His  friend- 
ship here.  We  must  bear  His  name  on  our 
foreheads,  these  common  days,  where  the  world 
may  see  it.  We  must  be  Christ's  now  or  we 
cannot  enter  Christ's  home  and  glory  hereafter. 


VII 

THE  TRUE   GLORY   OF   LIFE 


**  David  longed,  and  said,  Oh  that  one  would  give  me  water 
to  drink  of  the  well  of  Bethlehem,  which  is  by  the  gate  !  And 
the  three  mighty  men  brake  through  the  host  of  the  Philistines, 
and  drew  water  out  of  the  well  of  Bethlehem,  that  was  by  the 
gate,  and  took  it,  and  brought  it  to  David :  but  he  would  not 
drink  thereof,  but  poured  it  out  unto  Jehovah.  And  he  said.  Be 
it  far  from  me,  O  Jehovah,  that  I  should  do  this  :  shall  I  drink 
the  blood  of  the  men  that  went  in  jeopardy  of  their  lives? 
therefore  he  would  not  drink  it." — II.  Samuel  xxiii.  15-17. 

**  Measure  thy  life  by  loss  instead  of  gain  ; 
Not  by  the  wine  drunk,  but  by  the  wine  poured  forth ; 
For  love's  strength  standeth  in  love's  .sacrifice  ; 
And  whoso  suffers  most  has  most  to  give." 

—  Ugo  Bassi's  Sermon. 


VII 

THE  TRUE  CxLORY  OF  LIFE 

The  story  of  David  longing  for  water  from  the 
well  by  the  gate  is  very  beautiful.  There  are 
several  interesting  and  profitable  suggestions  in 
it.  One  is  the  influence  of  childhood  memories 
and  associations  over  the  life  in  the  days  of 
strength  and  maturity.  David  and  his  men  were 
in  the  cave  of  Adullam.  Over  yonder  was  Beth- 
lehem, the  home  of  David's  boyhood.  He  knew 
every  spot.  He  had  played  over  the  fields.  He 
had  led  his  sheep  into  every  nook,  along  every 
path.  Probably  it  was  not  so  much  thirst  for 
water  as  homesickness  that  forced  from  him  that 
day  the  cry,  "  Oh  that  one  would  give  me  water 
to  drink  of  the  well  .  .  .  which  is  by  the  gate !" 

It  is  easy  to  understand  David's  longing.  The 
memories  of  our  childhood  home  tug  at  our 
hearts  through  all  our  years.  There  is  great 
keeping  power  in  such  love  for  the  old  home. 
While  the  picture  of  the  familiar  rooms,  the  faces 
at  the  fireside,   at  the  table,  and   at   the  family 

123 


124  OUR  NEW  EDENS 

worship,  and  the  recollections  of  the  lessons,  the 
songs,  the  talks — while  these  abide,  with  their 
sacred  suggestions  and  associations,  it  is  not  easy 
to  drift  far  away  into  wrong.  The  heart  that 
cherishes  no  such  memories,  recalls  no  such  a 
past,  in  which  there  is  no  hallowed  shrine  of 
recollection,  has  lost  much. 

Another  suggestion  in  this  story  is  the  love  of 
these  three  men  for  their  chief  The  moment 
they  heard  his  wish  for  a  drink  of  water  from  the 
old  well  they  determined  to  get  it  for  him.  The 
well  was  in  the  hands  of  the  enemy,  and  it  was 
impossible  to  bring  the  water  without  peril  and 
cost  Yet  so  strong  was  their  love  for  David 
that  they  went  through  armed  ranks  and  brought 
it.  This  reminds  us  of  what  Christ  did  to  bring 
to  His  friends  the  water  of  life  from  the  old  well 
of  salvation.  One  of  the  noblest  of  the  old 
litanies  tells  the  story  well  : — "  By  the  cold  crib 
in  which  Thou  didst  lie,  have  mercy  upon  us. 
By  Thy  flight  into  Egypt  and  all  the  pains  Thou 
didst  suffer  there  ;  by  Thy  thirst,  hunger,  cold,  and 
heat,  in  this  vale  of  Thy  misery ;  by  the  inward 
and  great  heaviness  which  Thou  hadst  when 
praying  in  the  garden,  and  by  the  spitting  on 
Thee  and  the  scourging;  by  Thy  purple  gar- 
ments and  Thy  crown  of  thorns ;  by  the  nailing 


THE  TRUE  GLORY  OF  LIFE  125 

of  Thy  right  hand  to  the  cross,  and  the  shedding 
of  Thy  most  precious  blood;  by  the  naihng  of 
Thy  left  hand,  and  that  most  holy  wound — 
purge,  enlighten,  and  reconcile  us  to  God.  By  the 
lifting  up  of  Thy  most  holy  body  on  the  cross ; 
by  the  bitterness  of  Thy  death  and  its  intolerable 
pains ;  by  Thy  glorious  resurrection ;  by  Thy 
glorious  and  wondrous  ascension — have  mercy 
upon  us!" 

Everything  about  our  redemption  reminds  us 
of  what  it  cost  our  Saviour  to  bring  it  to  us.  He 
stopped  at  no  sacrifice,  because  He  loved  us  to 
the  uttermost. 

Then  there  is  a  suggestion  here  of  w^hat  other 
friends  besides  Christ  do  for  those  they  love. 
Next  to  the  love  of  Christ,  the  most  precious 
thine  in  all  the  world  is  human  love.  And  how 
often  does  it  repeat  the  story  of  devotion,  and  at 
cost  and  danger  bring  cups  of  water  from  far-off 
springs  for  those  who  are  thirsty !  We  do  not 
begin  to  know  what  we  owe  to  our  friends  who 
are  always  doing  things  for  us. 

Then  there  is  a  suggestion  of  our  duty  to  those 
about  us  who  have  their  longings,  their  needs, 
their  hungers,  their  discouragements,  their  sor- 
rows. The  cry  of  thirsty  hearts  falls  continually 
upon   our  ears.      "  Oh   that  one  would  give  me 


126  OUR  NEW  EDENS 

water  to  drink  of  the  well  of  Bethlehem  !  "  There 
are  many  unhappy  people,  unsatisfied  people,  in 
this  world — there  are  those  who  are  in  sorrow, 
those  who  hunger  for  love.  We  may  not  hear 
their  cries,  for  they  cry  in  silence.  But  we  are 
needed  continually  to  run  to  the  well  of  Beth- 
lehem to  bring  cups  of  water  for  those  about  us 
who  are  thirsty. 

There  is  a  society  in  one  of  our  great  cities, 
formed  to  help  the  poor,  whose  aim  is  said  to  be 
to  give  to  every  family  a  friend — some  one  who 
will  take  an  interest  in  the  household,  visit  the 
home,  and  bring  into  it  human  sympathy,  love, 
cheer,  and  gentle  kindness.  We  never  can  know 
what  it  means  to  some  families  to  give  them  a 
friend — true,  wise,  strong,  and  helpful.  No  other 
way  of  helping  people  anywhere,  rich  or  poor, 
refined  or  rude,  good  or  bad,  is  half  so  Divine  as 
by  being  a  friend  to  them.  One  of  the  fine  things 
we  learn  from  the  story  of  Saint  Paul  is  the  duty 
and  privilege  of  being  a  friend  to  men.  His  heart 
craved  friends,  but  he  also  longed  to  be  a  friend 
to  every  one.  He  helped  people  by  becoming 
their  friend.  We  are  taught  continually  that  we 
ought  to  love  Christ — and  the  lesson  cannot  be 
taught  too  often  or  too  earnestly,  nor  the  blessing 
of  loving   Christ  extolled  too  highly ;  but  if  we 


THE  TRUE  GLORY  OF  LIFE  127 

would  do  any  real  good  we  must  love  people  too 
in  this  world.  That  is  the  way  Christ  helps 
men — by  loving  them.  Then  if  we  really  love 
Christ,  we  cannot  but  love  others — the  one  love 
always  begets  the  other. 

An  ancient  writer  said  of  another :  "  He  was  a 
friend  to  man,  and  he  lived  in  a  house  by  the  side 
of  a  road."  He  lived  by  the  roadside  because  he 
wanted  to  be  near  people,  that  he  might  be  their 
friend  and  help  them.  There  are  some  who  do 
not  care  to  bother  with  others.  They  like  to  be 
very  conventional  neighbors.  They  do  not  want 
to  be  troubled  in  helping  people.  But  they  do 
not  know  what  opportunities  of  doing  good  they 
are  missing — what  opportunities  also  of  joy  for 
themselves.  The  deepest  happiness  in  this  world 
is  found  in  being  a  friend  to  others.  It  was  the 
joy  of  helping  men,  of  saving  them,  of  serving 
them,  of  being  their  friend,  of  bringing  them  cups 
of  water  from  the  well  of  heaven,  that  filled  the 
heart  of  Christ  and  enabled  Him  to  endure  the 
cross  and  despise  the  shame. 

A  church  visitor  went  every  month  to  take 
some  money  to  a  poor  woman  who  lived  alone 
and  was  not  able  to  leave  her  little  house.  The 
old  woman  received  the  visitor  very  kindly,  and 
as  she  was  going  away,  said,  "  I  thank  you  very 


128  OUR  NEW  EDENS 

much  for  the  money — it  will  pay  my  rent ;  but  I 
thank  you  far  more  for  your  visit.  What  I  want 
most  is  not  money,  but  folks."  Her  heart  was 
hungry  for  human  sympathy.  If  you  get  near 
enough  to  people,  you  will  hear  every  day  long- 
ings and  yearnings  like  this  of  David,  "  Oh  that 
one  would  give  me  water  to  drink  of  the  well  of 
Bethlehem,  which  is  by  the  gate !  " 

No  other  well  in  all  the  world  has  in  it  such 
water  as  has  the  well  of  Bethlehem  which  is  by 
the  gate.  This  water  is  the  love  of  Christ,  the 
grace  of  God,  of  which  if  a  man  drink  he  shall 
never  thirst  any  more.  When  you  run  to  this 
well  of  Bethlehem  you  will  find  no  armed  guards 
to  keep  you  away.  Sometimes  in  the  country 
you  will  come  to  a  wayside  spring  with  a  little 
cup  hanging  by  it.  The  cup  means  that  the  water 
is  free  and  that  whosoever  is  thirsty  may  drink. 
You  may  drink  freely  yourself  from  the  well  of 
Bethlehem.  But  the  water  is  not  for  you  only. 
There  is  another  near  you  who  is  thirsty  too, 
waiting  for  you  to  give  the  cup  to  him  in  the 
Master's  name. 

"  That  plenty  but  reproaches  me 
Which  leaves  my  brother  bare  ; 
Not  wholly  glad  my  heart  can  be 
While  his  is  bowed  with  care." 


THE  TRUE  GLORY  OF  LIFE  129 

We  have  another  suggestion  in  the  way  David 
received  the  water  which  his  friends  brought  to 
him.  He  said  their  heroic  love  and  achievement 
for  him  made  the  water  sacred,  hallowed  it.  He 
dared  not  use  it  for  the  mere  gratifying  of  his  own 
personal  thirst.  It  could  be  fitly  honored  only  by 
giving  it  to  God.  So  he  poured  it  out  as  an  offer- 
ing, an  oblation,  to  God.  David's  act  has  its  sug- 
gestions for  us. 

One  is-that  the  best  part  of  a  noble  deed  is  its 
motive.  The  finest  thing  in  kindness  is  not  the 
act,  which  may  be  very  simple,  but  the  thoughtful 
love  which  inspires  the  kindness.  An  old  writer 
said,  "  You  can  paint  fire,  but  you  cannot  paint 
heat."  It  is  not  the  mere  flame  as  a  picture  that 
warms  you,  but  the  warmth,  which  you  cannot 
see,  which  makes  no  picture.  The  act  of  the 
three  brave  men  was  heroic.  It  would  have  been 
heroic  if  done  as  an  adventure  or  to  receive  praise 
or  reward  of  men.  But  the  noble  quahty  in  the 
deed  was  not  merely  what  people  saw — the  dash 
through  the  enemy's  lines,  the  dipping  up  of  the 
water  in  the  face  of  the  guards,  and  the  return 
again  with  it  to  the  cave.  The  really  noble  thing 
in  the  act  was  the  love  for  David  which  inspired 
it. 

Always,  in  all  life,  it  is  true  that  it  is  the  motive 
9 


I30  OUR  NEW  EDENS 

which  gives  value  to  our  acts.  One  man  builds  a 
hospital  or  a  home  for  orphans.  He  does  it  be- 
cause he  wants  to  be  known  as  generous  and 
philanthropic.  The  motive  which  God  sees  is 
self-love,  the  desire  to  get  honor  from  men.  The 
deed  itself  seems  very  large  to  human  eyes.  It  is 
a  noble  charity.  It  will  be  praised  by  men.  The 
newspapers  will  make  a  great  deal  of  it,  and  the 
man  who  built  it  will  be  honored  by  his  fellows. 
But  large  as  the  great  institution  bulks  in  the 
world,  all  that  appears  in  God's  eyes  is  a  Httle 
picture  of  a  man  trying  to  glorify  himself,  to  get 
his  name  honored.  There  will  be  a  good  deal  of 
shrinking  and  shriveling  when  some  day  we  get 
to  see  all  things  as  they  are.  Some  large  things 
— large  in  earthly  seeming — will  be  pitifully  small 
then. 

But  there  is  another  side  to  this.  A  lowly  man 
does  a  little  thing — a  little  act  in  itself.  It  is  only 
a  simple  kindness — a  cup  of  cold  water  given  to 
one  who  is  thirsty.  But  the  motive  is  love,  and 
that  makes  it  shine  in  bright  radiance,  like  a  trans- 
figuration, in  heaven's  sight.  Great  gifts  were 
dropped  into  the  treasury  that  day  when  the 
Master  was  watching  how  men  gave.  But  the 
only  gift  He  praised  was  the  widow's  offering  of  a 


THE  TRUE  GLORY  OF  LIFE  131 

farthing.  He  said  it  was  greater  than  any  of  the 
others.     The  motive  made  the  difference. 

The  same  is  true  in  all  life.  We  should  not  do 
good  to  get  men's  praise.  If  we  work  from  this 
motive,  we  shall  have  just  what  we  work  for,  but 
nothing  else.  Men  will  praise  us,  but  God  will 
not.  All  there  really  is  of  any  work,  even  the 
greatest,  is  the  part  that  lies  hidden  in  the  worker's 
heart.  Many  men's  lives,  therefore,  are  very 
much  smaller  in  heaven's  sight  than  they  appear 
to  their  fellows  to  be.  Then  there  are  many 
whose  lives  are  a  thousand  times  more  beautiful, 
more  radiant  and  noble  as  God  sees  them,  than 
they  are  as  the  world  sees  them.  Love  in  them 
glorifies  them. 

This  truth  has  wide  application.  It  is  not  the 
part  which  men  see  that  is  most  important  in  any 
one's  life.  Love  glorified  the  deed  of  bravery 
wrought  by  David's  three  friends  and  made  it 
holy  as  a  sacrament.  It  is  love  that  glorifies 
whatever  is  pleasing  to  God  in  our  lives.  One 
person  sings  a  hymn  and  it  is  only  a  common 
song  breathed  into  the  air.  Another  standing 
close  by  sings  it  and  it  is  holy  worship,  and 
carries  up  to  God  a  heart's  incense  of  praise. 
One  performs  an  act  of  kindness  from  a  selfish 
motive,  and  while  it  may  give  comfort  to  one  or 


132  OUR  NEW  EDENS 

to  many  it  is  only  a  common  deed.  Another 
performs  an  act  just  like  it,  but  with  love  as  its 
inspiration,  and  it  is  a  sacrifice  to  God,  acceptable 
and  pleasing  to  Him.  The  difference  is  in  the 
hearts  of  those  who  perform  the  deeds.  We 
would  better  do  even  the  smallest  things  in  love 
and  thus  lift  them  up  into  radiant  beauty  than  do 
large  and  conspicuous  things  to  glorify  ourselves. 
There  is  an  eastern  story  of  a  king  who  built  a 
great  temple  at  his  own  cost,  no  other  one  being 
allowed  to  do  even  the  smallest  part  of  the  work. 
The  king's  name  was  put  upon  the  temple  as  the 
builder  of  it.  But,  strange  to  say,  when  the  dedi- 
cation day  came  it  was  seen  that  a  poor  widow's 
name  was  there  in  place  of  the  king's.  The  king 
was  angry  and  gave  command  that  the  woman 
bearing  the  name  on  the  scroll  should  be  found. 
They  discovered  her  at  last  among  the  very  poor 
and  brought  her  before  the  king.  He  demanded 
of  her  what  she  had  done  toward  the  building  of 
the  temple.  She  said,  "  Nothing."  When  pressed 
to  remember  anything  she  had  done,  she  said 
that  one  day  when  she  saw  the  oxen  drawing  the 
great  stones  past  her  cottage,  exhausted  in  the 
heat  and  very  weary,  she  had  in  pity  given  them 
some  wisps  of  hay.  And  this  simple  kindness  to 
dumb  animals,  prompted  by  a  heart's  compassion, 


THE  TRUE  GLORY  OF  LIFE  133 

weighed  more  in  God's  sight  than  all  the  king's 
vast  outlay  of  money.  What  we  truly  do  for 
Christ  and  in  love  is  glorious  in  His  sight. 

There  is  another  suggestion  in  David's  way  of 
receiving  the  water.  He  would  not  even  taste  it 
himself.  He  gave  it  to  God.  That  which  made 
the  water  so  sacred  in  David's  sight  was  its  cost 
and  the  love  that  prompted  the  heroic  act  We 
get  the  lesson,  that  whatever  comes  to  us  through 
the  pain  and  peril  of  others,  or  through  blood 
and  sacrifice,  is  thereby  made  sacred,  and  should 
not  be  used  in  any  self-indulgence,  but  should  be 
given  to  God. 

The  story  of  national  life  illustrates  this  princi- 
ple. Progress  is  costly.  Whatever  is  great  and 
noble  and  worthy  is  the  fruit  of  sacrifice.  It  is  the 
story  of  David's  cup  of  water  over  again — it  is  the 
blood  of  the  men  who  went  in  jeopardy  of  their 
lives,  or  who  gave  their  lives.  Our  great  Chris- 
tian nations  are  what  they  are  to-day  because  of 
long  records  of  sacrifice. 

There  is  a  picture  which  tells  the  story  of  a 
troop  of  soldiers  in  northern  India.  They 
marched  forth  bravely  in  the  faultless  attire  of  a 
holiday.  Their  guns  were  polished,  their  gloves 
were  spotless  in  their  whiteness.  A  fortnight 
passed  and  there  had  come  no  word  from  these 


134  OUR  NEW  EDENS 

brave  men.  One  morning  the  sentinel  on  the 
wall  saw  a  solitary  horseman  on  the  horizon. 
Slowly  he  moved  along  the  road.  The  garrison 
went  out  to  meet  him,  supposing  it  must  be  a 
messenger  from  the  absent  army.  Evidently 
some  misfortune  had  befallen  this  soldier.  His 
horse  was  so  weary  that  its  head  drooped  almost 
to  the  ground.  The  messenger  himself,  it  was 
seen,  had  been  hurt.  A  crimson  cloth  was  bound 
round  his  forehead.  His  hair  was  matted  with 
blood.  His  hands  were  wounded.  He  was 
faint,  almost  unconscious.  As  the  men  of  the 
garrison  drew  near,  the  officer  in  the  lead  shouted  : 
"  The  army !  What  news  of  the  army  ?  "  The 
soldier,  rousing  himself  from  his  half  stupor,  and 
lifting  his  bleeding  hand  to  put  back  his  matted 
locks,  replied :  "  The  army !  Why,  I  am  the 
army  !  "  He  was  the  only  man  left  to  come  back 
of  all  that  gay  company  that  had  gone  forth. 

This  has  been  the  story  of  many  a  patriotic 
army.  Thousands  went  forth  and  only  a  little 
handful  returned.  We  should  not  forget  the  cost 
of  the  blessings,  the  liberties,  the  institutions,  the 
prosperities  which  mean  so  much  in  our  best 
modern  life.  What  did  David  do  with  the  water 
whose  cost  made  it  holy  ?  He  gave  it  to  God. 
An  element  of  all  worthy  patriotism  is  loyalty  to 


THE  TRUE  GLORY  OF  LIFE  135 

God.  Good  citizenship  is  part  of  all  full-rounded 
religion.  It  is  not  enough  for  Christian  men  to 
be  honest  and  true  and  incorruptible — they  must 
be  positive  forces  for  good  in  the  community  in 
which  they  live.  We  should  be  strong  for  God 
and  for  truth  and  right. 

"  Be  strong  ! 
We  are  not  here  to  play,  to  dream,  to  drift ; 
We  have  hard  work  to  do,  and  loads  to  lift. 
Shun  not  the  struggle  ;  face  it.     'Tis  God's  fight. 

"  Be  strong ! 

Say  not  the  days  are  evil—'  Who's  to  blame  ? ' 

And  fold  the  hands  and  acquiesce.     O  shame  ! 
Stand  up,  ?peak  out  and  bravely,  in  God's  name. 

'*  Be  strong  ! 
It  matters  not  how  deep  entrenched  the  wrong, 
How  hard  the  battle  goes,  the  day,  how  long  ; 
Faint  not,  fight  on  !     To-morrow  comes  the  song." 

If  the  cost  of  our  national  blessings  makes 
them  so  sacred,  what  shall  we  say  of  the  bless- 
ings of  Christianity  ?  They  come  to  us  without 
price;  but  there  was  One  who  paid  an  infinite 
price  to  procure  them  for  us.  Dare  we  spend  on 
ourselves  these  precious  gifts  of  redeemed  life  ? 
We  will  deal  with  them  worthily  only  when  we 
give  them  all  to  God. 


136  OUR  NEW  EDENS 

"  I  will  away  and  find  my  God, 
And  what  I  dare  not  keep  ask  Ilim  to  take, 
And  taking,  love's  sweet  sacrifice  to  make; 
Then,  like  a  wave,  the  sorrow  and  the  pain 
High  heaven  with  glory  flood — 
For  them,  for  all,  a  splendid  gain." 

This  oldtime  story  suggests  to  us  also  what  are 
the  really  great  things  in  life,  the  things  that 
endure.  ..  Noble  deeds  are  great.  It  has  been  a 
long  time  since  those  three  friends  of  David's 
went  forth  on  their  brave  errand.  But  the  world 
has  been  blessed  all  these  thirty  centuries  by  the 
story  of  their  heroism.  The  telling  of  the  story 
again  to-day  has  started  noble  impulses  in  our 
breasts,  and  we  will  be  better  to-morrow  for 
learning  anew  the  devotion  of  these  heroic  men. 

Another  of  the  great  things  of  life  is  service, 
service  prompted  by  love.  Life  is  made  worth 
while  only  by  love.  The  heroism  in  David's 
men  was  splendid,  but  it  was  their  love  for  their 
chief  that  gave  the  true  glory  to  their  deed.  The 
things  we  do  for  love  are  the  things  that  will  liv^c. 
"  Now  abideth  faith,  hope,  love,  these  three ;  and 
the  greatest  of  these  is  love."  All  that  love  does 
is  immortal. 

Another  great  thing  is  worship ;  that  is,  the 
consecration  of  life's  avails  and  fruits  to  God.    We 


THE  TRUE  GLORY  OF  LIFE  137 

are  not  living  truly  till  we  recognize  our  supreme 
obligation  to  God.  To  leave  God  out  of  our  life 
is  to  leave  out  blessing,  joy,  hope,  and  heaven. 
No  life  has  found  its  true  place  in  the  universe  till 
it  has  given  itself  to  God.  Then  day  by  day, 
whatever  new  gift,  power,  or  possession  comes  to 
us,  we  should  promptly  lay  it  on  God's  altar.  We 
become  great  only  when  we  link  our  little  lives  to 
the  great  infinite  Life. 

The  life  that  is  given  up  to  God  in  true  devo- 
tion need  fear  nothing.  We  may  have  our  sor- 
rows, our  disappointments,  our  losses,  but  if  all 
our  life  is  in  the  hands  of  God,  no  harm  can  come 
to  us.  In  all  the  events  and  experiences  of  our 
strangest  days  it  is  life,  character,  that  God  is 
making  in  us.  Very  beautiful  is  the  figure  of  the 
loom.  God  is  the  weaver.  He  has  before  Him 
the  pattern  into  which  He  would  fashion  our 
lives.  Some  threads  are  white,  some  are  dark, 
but  the  great  Weaver  will  blend  them  so  that  the 
finished  work  will  be  beautiful. 

"  Children  of  yesterday, 
Heirs  of  to-morrow, 
What  are  you  weaving? 
Labor  or  sorrow  ? 
Look  at  your  looms  again  ; 


138  OUR  NEW  EDENS 

Faster  and  faster 
Fly  the  great  shuttles 
Prepared  by  the  Master. 
Life's  is  the  loom  ; 
Room  for  it — room. 

"  Children  of  yesterday, 
Heirs  of  to-morrow, 
Lighten  the  labor 
And  sweeten  the  sorrow  ; 
Now,  while  the  shuttles  fly 
Faster  and  faster, 
Up  and  be  at  it — 
At  work  with  the  Master  ; 
He  stands  at  your  loom — 
Room  for  Him— room. 

"  Children  of  yesterday, 
Heirs  of  to-morrow, 
Look  at  your  fabric 
Of  labor  and  sorrow, 
Seamy  and  dark 
With  despair  and  disaster  ; 
Turn  it — and  lo. 
The  design  of  the  Master  ! 
The  Lord's  at  the  loom  ; 
Room  for  Him — room." 


tUQQ 


VIII 
GRIEVING   THE    HOLY   SPIRIT 


"Grieve  not  the  Holy  Spirit  of  God." — Ephesians  iv.  30. 

'*  Spirit  of  purity  and  grace, 

Our  weakness,  pitying,  see  : 
Oh,  make  our  hearts  Thy  dwelling  place, 
And  worthier  Thee." 


VIII 

GRIEVING  THE  HOLY  SPIRIT 

We  are  exhorted  not  to  grieve  the  Divine 
Spirit.  So  the  Spirit  is  a  person,  not  a  mere 
influence.  You  cannot  grieve  an  influence.  You 
may  resist  it,  but  it  will  not  care,  will  not  feel 
hurt.  You  can  grieve  a  person,  however,  give 
him  pain,  and  the  Holy  Spirit  is  a  person  with 
feelings,  affections,  and  a  heart  that  can  be  pained, 
like  your  mother's. 

The  Holy  Spirit  is  also  your  friend.  You  can- 
not grieve  a  person  who  dislikes  you  or  is  indif- 
ferent to  you.  But  when  one  loves  you,  cares 
for  you,  is  deeply  interested  in  you,  you  grieve 
him  if  you  do  not  trust  him,  if  you  do  not  prove 
faithful  and  true,  if  you  treat  him  ungratefully 
or  unkindly,  if  you  slight  or  despise  his  love. 
There  are  children  who  grieve  their  parents. 
There  are  persons  who  grieve  their  friends. 
Perhaps  there  never  is  love  that  is  not  hurt 
sometimes,  many  times — we  all  are  so  heedless, 
so  ignorant,  so  thoughtless,  such  blunderers   in 

living  and  loving. 

141 


142  OUR  NEW  EDENS 

Now  we  may  grieve  the  Holy  Spirit  of  God, 
for  He  loves  us.  We  do  not  think  often  of  the 
love  of  the  Spirit.  We  know  that  the  Father 
loves  us,  for  He  gave  His  only  begotten  Son  to 
redeem  us.  We  know  that  the  Son  of  God  loves 
us :  His  coming  to  this  world  in  the  Incarnation 
and  all  His  wonderful  life  of  service  and  sacrifice 
for  us  proved  His  love.  But  we  do  not  speak 
much  of  the  love  of  the  Spirit.  Yet  His  love  is 
no  less  than  that  of  the  Father  or  the  Son. 
Think  how  He  follows  us  patiently  and  un- 
weariedly  in  all  our  wanderings,  through  all  our 
unfaithfulness,  never  giving  us  up  until  He  gets 
us  home  at  last.  Think  how  He  makes  us  His 
companions,  entering  into  closest  relations  of 
friendship  with  us. 

We  speak  of  the  condescension  of  the  Son  of 
God  in  coming  to  earth  and  living  in  a  human 
body  in  a  world  of  sin  and  sorrow,  meeting  the 
conditions  of  ignorance,  enmity,  unbelief,  rejec- 
tion, and  wrong.  Have  you  ever  thought  of  the 
condescension  of  the  Holy  Spirit  in  living  with 
us,  not  three  years  only,  but  continually?  We 
are  told,  too,  that  He  lives  Jn  us.  "  Your  body 
is  a  temple  of  the  Holy  Spirit."  What  kind  of 
a  place  is  your  heart5for  the  Holy  Spirit  to  live 
in  ?     Think  of  all  the  evil  there  is  in  it.     Think 


GRIEVING  THE  HOLY  SPIRIT  143 

of  the  unholy  thoughts,  feelings,  desires,  affec- 
tions, of  the  rebellions,  the  insubmissions,  the 
brood  of  unclean  things  there  are  in  your  heart. 
Now  into  that  heart  the  Holy  Spirit  comes,  not 
for  a  transient  visit,  as  when  some  pure  and 
gentle  woman  goes  into  a  place  of  wretchedness 
and  degradation  for  half  an  hour  on  an  errand  of 
mercy,  but  to  make  His  home  there,  to  live  there 
until  He  has  changed  all  the  evil  into  good.  Do 
you  not  think  that  the  love  of  the  Holy  Spirit  in 
making  our  hearts  His  home  for  all  the  years  of 
our  life  is  quite  as  wonderful  as  was  the  love  of 
Christ  in  spending  His  three  and  thirty  years  in 
this  world  ?  The  Holy  Spirit  loves  us  tenderly, 
yearningly,  infinitely. 

Now  we  may  grieve  this  Holy  Spirit  whose 
heart  is  so  gentle  and  who  loves  us  so.  Nathaniel 
Hawthorne  had  a  little  daughter  called  Una,  who 
often  made  up  stories  for  her  younger  brother. 
One  day  she  was  overheard  telling  him  of  a  boy 
who  was  very  naughty.  "  He  grew  naughtier 
and  naughtier,"  said  the  child,  "  and  every  day 
naughtier  still,  until  at  last — at  last — he  struck 
God  !"  That  was  terrible  !  But  there  are  many, 
many  people  who  do  strike  God  not  once  only, 
but  again  and  again.  The  Holy  Spirit  is  God. 
"  Grieve  not  the  Holy  Spirit  of  God." 


144  OUR  NEW  EDENS 

We  must  remember  that  this  counsel  is  ad- 
dressed to  Christians,  not  to  the  impenitent.  Of 
course,  the  impenitent  grieve  the  Holy  Spirit  too, 
for  He  comes  to  them  with  His  beseeching  love, 
and  they  resist  His  pleadings  and  His  entreaties. 
His  mission  to  the  impenitent  is  to  urge  them  to 
accept  Jesus  Christ.  So  long  as  they  refuse  to 
do  this,  rejecting  the  Saviour  who  died  for  them, 
they  hurt  the  heart  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  Mrs. 
Stowe  tells  of  the  knocking  at  the  door  and  the 
call  to  open,  and  then  in  vvondrously  pathetic 
words  asks — 

Did  she  open  ?     Doth  she  ?     Will  she  ? 
So,  as  wondering  we  behold, 
Grows  the  picture  to  a  sign, 
Pressed  upon  your  soul  and  mine  ; 
For  in  every  breast  that  liveth 
Is  that  strange,  mysterious  door  ; 
Though  forsaken  and  betangled, 
Ivy-gnarled  and  weed-bejangled, 
Dusty,  rusty,  and  forgotten- — 
There  the  pierced  hand  still  knocketh  ; 
And  with  ever-patient  watching, 
With  the  sad  eyes  true  and  tender, 
With  the  glory-crowned  hair — 
Still  a  God  is  waiting  there. 

This  surely  is  a  startling  picture  for  those  who 
have  never  yet  accepted  of  Jesus  Christ  as  their 


GRIEVING  THE  HOLY  SPIRIT  145 

personal  Saviour— God  kept  waiting  and  patiently 
knocking  outside  their  door.  It  would  grieve 
you  to  have  any  one  treat  you  so— when  you  had 
gone  with  love  in  your  heart  to  do  some  one 
good,  to  show  a  great  kindness — to  be  shut  out, 
to  get  no  response  to  your  knocking.  Yet  that 
is  the  way  many  people  treat  the  Holy  Spirit  for 
years  and  years. 

But  the  exhortation  against  grieving  the  Spirit 
is  for  those  who  have  opened  the  door,  admitting 
the  heavenly  Guest,  and  have  then  grieved  Him 
as  a  guest,  as  a  friend.     The  connection  of  the 
words    is   very  suggestive.     They    stand    in    the 
midst  of  exhortations  concerning  speech  and  con- 
cerning unlovingness.     Notice  this  reading :  "  Let 
no  corrupt  speech  proceed  out  of  your  mouth, 
but  such  as  is  good  for  edifying  as  the  need  may 
be,  that   it   may  give  grace  to    them    that    hear. 
And  grieve  not  the  Holy  Spirit  of  God."     So  we 
may  grieve  the  Spirit  by  our  words.     Jesus  laid 
great  stress   on   speech  as  an   expression  of  the 
life.     "By  thy  words,"  he  said,  "thou  shalt  be 
justified,    and    by    thy   words  .  .  .  condemned." 
Saint  Paul's  teaching  here    makes  it  very  plain 
what  kind  of  speech  a  Christian  should  make  use 
of.    He  should  not  use  any  corrupt  speech,  which 
scholars  say  means  rather  worthless  speech— like 


10 


146  OUR  NEW  EDENS 

the  idle  words  which  the  Master  condemned. 
What  a  mass  of  worthless  words,  good  for  noth- 
ing, empty,  vain,  inept,  doing  nobody  any  good, 
are  spoken  every  day !  These  grieve  the  Spirit 
of  God,  for  our  wonderful  gift  of  speech  is  given 
to  us  that  with  it  we  may  bless  the  world. 

Saint  Paul  tells  us  what  kind  of  words  Chris- 
tians should  speak — such  speech  as  is  edifying  as 
the  need  may  be,  that  it  may  give  grace  to  them 
that  hear.  Good  for  edifying !  That  is,  every 
word  we  speak  should  be  such  as  will  give  help, 
put  cheer,  hope,  or  encouragement  into  others' 
hearts — put  touches  of  beauty  on  others'  lives. 
Are  the  words  we  speak  these  days  of  this  kind  ? 
Do  they  give  inspiration,  encouragement,  strength, 
uplift  ?  Do  they  impart  grace  to  those  who  hear 
us  ?  This  does  not  mean  that  all  our  words 
shall  be  solemn  and  grave.  Sometimes  the  best 
way  to  minister  grace  to  a  friend  is  to  make  him 
laugh.  Humor  has  its  place  in  Christian  speech, 
and  without  it  religion  would  fail  ofttimes  in  its 
most  helpful  ministry.  But  if  our  best  work 
always  is  to  make  people  happy,  what  is  required 
is  that  all  our  speech  shall  minister  grace  to  those 
who  hear,  make  them  better,  truer,  stronger, 
braver,  more  helpful  to  others.  There  are  words 
that   hurt   tender   hearts,  and  when   we   hurt   a 


GRIEVING  THE  HOLY  SPIRIT  147 

human  heart,  we  hurt  God  and  grieve  the  Holy 

Spirit. 

There  are  other  words  which  tell  us  further 
how  the  lesson  applies  in  our  daily  common  life. 
"  Grieve  not  the  Holy  Spirit.  .  .  .  Let  all  bitter- 
ness, and  wrath,  and  anger,  and  clamor,  and  rail- 
ing, be  put  away  from  you,  with  all  malice :  and 
be  ye  kind  one  to  another,  tender-hearted,  for- 
giving each  other,  even  as  God  also  in  Christ 
forgave  you." 

We  do  not  know  what  we  are  doing  when  we 
let  bitter  thoughts  stay  in  our  minds,  or  when  we 
speak  unkind  words  which  give  pain  to  those 
who  love  us.  We  are  desecrating  the  temple  in 
us  in  which  the  Holy  Spirit  has  His  home.  We 
are  hurting,  grieving  God,  for  we  must  remember 
that  he  who  wrongs  one  of  Christ's  own,  wrongs 
Christ  Himself  Let  us  cultivate  love  and  all  the 
gentle  expressions  of  love.  Let  us  remember 
that  God  is  love — the  Holy  Spirit  is  love. 
Therefore  only  love  can  please  Him. 

We  may  think  we  have  the  Spirit  in  our  hearts 
because  we  are  busy  in  Christian  work,  or  be- 
cause we  are  sound  in  doctrine,  or  because  we 
give  money  to  good  causes.  Let  us  know  also 
that  anything  that  is  unloving  in  thought,  or  feel- 
ing, or  disposition,  or  act,  hurts  God,  grieves  the 


148  OUR  NEW  EDENS 

Holy  Spirit.  Let  us  seek  to  make  our  hearts  fit 
temples  for  the  heavenly  Guest  by  putting  out 
all  that  is  not  loving,  and  welcoming  love  into 
every  nook  and  corner  of  our  being. 

But  there  are  other  ways  of  grieving  the  Spirit. 
His  work  in  us  is  to  glorify  Christ.  He  does 
not  glorify  Himself,  but,  keeping  Himself  out  of 
sight,  never  calling  attention  to  Himself,  He 
pours  the  light  upon  the  Redeemer,  that  we 
may  see  Him,  that  He  may  become  glorious  in 
our  sight. 

Then  the  purpose  of  the  Spirit  in  us  is,  further, 
to  have  the  life  of  Christ  reproduced  in  us.  That  , 
is,  all  the  Spirit's  work  in  us  is  intended  to  further 
our  fashioning  into  the  likeness  of  Christ.  We 
think  sometimes  that  we  are  Hke  Christ  because 
we  have  good  manners,  are  polite,  courteous, 
kind,  obliging,  or  because  we  are  enrolled  -as 
Christians  in  some  church.  These  are  proper 
marks  of  a  believer  in  Christ,  but  there  are  other 
marks.  "  The  fruit  of  the  Spirit  is  love,  joy,  peace, 
longsuffering,  kindness,  goodness,  faithfulness, 
meekness,  self-control."  Each  one  of  these 
words  stands  for  a  quality  that  is  Christlike. 
Think  of  what  love  is  as  Christ  interpreted  it, 
lived  it  out ;  what  peace  is ;  what  joy  is ;  what 
longsuffering  is ;   what    meekness    is.     Think    of 


GRIEVING  THE  HOLY  SPIRIT  149 

the  way  Christ  went  through  this  world,  loving, 
patient,  forbearing,  enduring.  He  knew  the  hurts 
of  love.  We  think  of  His  cross  as  the  highest 
expression  of  His  love,  the  mountain-top  of  His 
revealing  of  God.  So,  no  doubt,  it  was.  But  all 
His  life,  even  in  its  smallest  acts,  was  Hkewise  a 
manifestation  of  God. 

We  are  not  called  to  go  to  Calvary  to  die 
again — there  is  no  need  for  this ;  but  we  are 
called  to  die  on  the  cross,  nevertheless,  to  die 
continually.  Loving  as  Christ  loved  is  a  daily 
dying.  Men  must  see  the  cross  in  our  conduct, 
our  disposition,  our  treatment  of  others,  our 
service,  our  spirit  of  self-denying  and  sacrifice. 
Whenever  we  fail  in  thus  honoring  Christ  we 
grieve  the  Holy  Spirit.  When  we  act  selfishly 
instead  of  unselfishly,  when  we  are  false  instead 
of  true,  when  we  show  pride  instead  of  humility, 
when  we  think  of  our  own  interests  before  the 
interests  of  Christ's  kingdom,  when  in  our  rela- 
tions with  others  we  show  an  unchristlike  temper, 
we  grieve  the  Holy  Spirit  of  God. 

The  great  need  of  the  Christian  Church  to- 
day is  not  fine  buildings  in  which  to  worship  God, 
not  more  members,  not  greater  wealth,  not  larger 
institutions — what  the  Church  needs  first  and 
most  is  holy  life,  more  Christlikeness  in  its  mem- 


I50 


OUR  NEW  EDENS 


bers.  We  should  seek  to  live  our  faitH|.  We 
should  bring  our  living  up  to  our  professing. 
We  say  we  are  Christians — well,  let  us  be  Chris- 
tians. 

'*  So,  he  died  for  his  faith.     That  is  fine — 
More  than  most  of  us  do. 
But,  say,  can  you  add  to  that  hne 
That  he  hved  for  it,  too? 

*'  In  his  death  he  bore  witness  at  last 
As  a  martyr  to  truth  ; 
Did  his  life  do  the  same  in  the  past 
From  the  days  of  his  youth  ? 

*'  It  is  easy  to  die.     Men  have  died 
For  a  wish  or  a  whim — 
From  bravado  or  passion  or  pride ; 
Was  it  harder  for  him  ? 

*'  But  to  live — every  day  to  live  out 
All  the  truth  that  he  dreamt, 
"While  his  friends  met  his  conduct  with  doubt 
And  his  words  with  contempt. 

"  Was  it  thus  that  he  plodded  ahead, 
Never  turning  aside  ? 
Then  we'll  talk  of  the  Ijfe  that  he  led— 
Never  mind  how  he  died." 

We  grieve  the  Spirit  of  God  when  we  get 
absorbed  so  much  in  this  world  that  we  lose 
interest  in   the  heavenly  life.     A  Jewish    legend 


GRIEVING  THE  HOLY  SPIRIT  151 

affirms  that  if  an  angel  spends  seven  days  down 
on  the  earth  he  becomes  gross  and  opaque  and 
loses  the  power  of  his  wings.  It  is  true  of  the 
human  followers  of  Christ,  that  if  they  stay  out 
in  the  world  a  little  wdiile,  away  from  the  pres- 
ence and  fellowship  of  Christ,  they  will  become 
earthly,  losing  their  spirituality,  their  heavenly 
mindedness.  They  will  also  lose  the  power  of 
their  wings  and  be  unable  to  fly  Godward. 

There  are  many  strong  words  in  the  New 
Testament  concerning  the  life  of  the  Christian — 
the  life  he  ought  to  live  in  this  world.  We  are  to 
be  in  the  world,  but  not  of  it,  said  the  Master. 
We  are  to  be  filled  unto  all  the  fullness  of  God. 
Our  citizenship  is  to  be  in  heaven.  We  are  to 
walk  as  children  of  light.  We  are  to  be  holy  as 
God  is  holy.  We  cannot  live  the  heavenly  life 
here  unless  we  are  always  in  communication  with 
heaven.  He  who  does  not  abide  in  Christ  can- 
not bear  fruit.  "Apart  from  Me,"  said  Christ,  "ye 
can  do  nothing."  Seven  days  in  the  world  away 
from  Christ  would  leave  us  gross  and  opaque,  too. 
Indeed,  one  day  without  prayer  and  communion 
with  God  will  dim  the  luster  of  our  light  and  rob 
us  of  power.  The  only  way  to  maintain  the  glory 
and  the  vigor  of  our  spiritual  life  is  to  be  always 
under  the  influence  of  the  Spirit  of  God. 


152  OUR  NEW  EDENS 

Another  of  Saint  Paul's  expressive  counsels 
concerning  the  Spirit  is  given  in  another  of  his 
epistles :  "  Quench  not  the  Spirit."  The  Spirit 
is  a  fire,  the  fire  of  God  burning  in  us,  on  our 
heart's  altar.  This  holy  flame  is  a  Divine  lamp, 
fed  from  heaven.  Quench  it  not.  Do  not  put  it 
out.  Do  not  let  it  burn  low.  Do  not  resist  the 
Spirit's  work  in  your  heart.  Let  the  fire  burn, 
and  burn  up  all  that  is  not  good  or  worthy  in 
you.  Let  it  purify  you,  cleanse  your  life,  till 
nothing  unholy  remains.  Let  it  kindle  your 
whole  being  until  your  life  shall  be  indeed  a 
burning  and  shining  light  in  the  world. 

"  Grieve  not  the  Holy  Spirit  of  God."  The 
word  "  grieve  "  is  the  same  in  the  original  as  is 
used  in  the  gospels  when  it  is  said  of  Jesus  in 
Gethsemane  that  His  soul  was  exceeding  sorrow- 
ful. So  we  make  another  Gethsemane  in  the 
heart  of  Jesus,  make  Him  exceeding  sorrowful, 
even  in  heaven,  if  we  do  not  do  those  things  that 
please  Him,  if  we  disappoint  His  longing  for  our 
holiness. 

How  can  we  live  so  as  not  to  grieve  the  Holy 
Spirit?  Think  what  it  is  the  Spirit  seeks  to  do 
in  us.  His  mission  is  to  bring  us  back  to  God, 
to  undo  the  work  of  sin  in  us,  to  teach  us  the 
will    of  God  and   help  us  to  do  that  will.     He 


GRIEVING  THE  HOLY  SPIRIT  153 

comes  into  our  hearts  when  they  are  full  of  evil, 
and  His  work  is  to  cleanse  us  of  the  evil  and 
then  to  fill  us  with  good.  He  comes  to  cure  us 
of  all  bitterness,  anger,  and  resentment,  and  to  fill 
us  with  love.  He  comes  to  bring  heaven  down 
into  our  hearts  and  Hves. 

What  now  is  our  part  ?  It  is  to  help  by  not 
hindering.  It  is  to  yield  our  hearts  and  lives  to 
the  Spirit,  to  obey  His  voice,  to  accept  His 
guidance.  It  is  to  open  every  part  of  our  being 
to  His  influence,  not  keeping  Him  out  of  any 
room  or  closet. 

It  is  a  wonderful  fact  that  we  can  have  all  the 
power  of  God  come  into  our  lives,  if  we  will,  that 
we  may  be  instruments  which  God  can  use.  An 
organ  has  a  capacity  for  sweet  music,  but  while 
it  is  closed  there  is  no  voice  in  its  pipes — it  is 
dumb.  The  organist  might  sit  down  at  the  key- 
board and  run  his  fingers  over  the  keys,  and 
there  would  still  be  no  music,  only  a  clatter. 
The  organ  is  dead — it  is  not  of  any  use.  It 
needs  the  breathing  of  the  air  through  its  pipes 
before  its  mechanism  can  be  effective.  Only 
start  the  motor  and  have  the  air  blowing 
through  the  organ,  and  then,  when  its  keys  are 
touched,  they  will  respond  in  sweet  harmonies. 
We    are    like    organs — we    have    all    the  powers 


154  OUR  NEW  EDENS 

necessary  for  noble  living.  We  are  meant  to 
make  sweet  music  in  our  living.  We  have 
reason,  conscience,  will,  affections,  intellectual 
faculties,  education.  Yet  until  the  breath  of  God 
blows  upon  us  we  are  only  organs  mute  and 
dead.  The  best  player  can  bring  out  no  heavenly 
music.  But  when  God  breathes  upon  us  and  we 
receive  the  Holy  Spirit,  then  music  will  pour 
forth  from  our  lives — the  music  of  joy,  peace, 
love,  holiness. 

One  of  Frances  Ridley  Havergal's  poems  tells 
of  an  ^olian  harp  which  a  friend  had  sent  her, 
telling  her  in  a  letter  of  the  sweetness  of  its 
tones.  Without  reading  the  letter  through  Miss 
Havergal  took  the  harp  in  her  hands  and  began 
to  thrum  its  seven  strings,  thinking  that  was  the 
way  to  use  it.  But  she  could  bring  out  no 
music.  She  was  disappointed.  She  then  looked 
at  her  friend's  letter  again,  and  learned  that  the 
harp  must  be  put  into  the  window,  under  the 
sash,  if  it  would  give  forth  its  music.  She 
obeyed  the  instructions,  and  then  the  wind  began 
to  blow  over  the  wires  and  the  room  was  in- 
stantly filled  with  sweet  strains. 

Our  lives  are  like  JEoVmn  harps.  Skillful 
fingers  on  the  strings  make  a  kind  of  music. 
Human   love   brinijs  out  much  that  is  beautiful. 


GRIEVING  THE  HOLY  SPIRIT  155 

But  it  is  only  when  the  breath  of  God  blows 
upon  our  lives  that  heavenly  music  comes  from 
them.  Shall  we  not  yield  all  our  being  to  this 
blessed  Holy  Spirit?  We  must  receive  Him  or 
He  will  not  come  into  our  hearts.  We  can  keep 
Him  away  if  we  will.  Let  us  not  grieve  Him  by 
resisting  Him.  Let  us  keep  no  door  shut  upon 
Him.  Then,  let  us  obey  every  command  and 
impulse  of  the  Spirit,  doing  always  the  things 
He  bids  us  do.  Let  us  follow  all  Divine  in- 
spirations. 

The  true  problem  of  Christian  life  is  not 
merely  church-membership,  not  merely  activity 
in  Christian  service,  not  merely  good  living — it  is 
to  bring  all  the  powers  of  the  body,  mind,  and 
spirit  under  the  influence  and  the  sway  of  God. 

"  Teach  me  to  feel  that  Thou  art  always  nigh  ; 
Teach  me  the  struggle  of  the  soul  to  bear, 
To  check  the  rising  doubt,  the  rebel  sigh  ; 
Teach  me  the  patience  of  unanswered  prayer. 

"  Teach  me  to  love  Thee  as  thine  angels  love, 
One  holy  passion  filling  all  my  frame ; 
The  baptism  of  the  heaven-descended  Dove, 
My  heart  an  altar  and  Thy  love  the  flame." 


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